WHITTIER, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team fell to the Whittier Poets 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) with the Sagehens dropping to 15-11 on the season and 11-4 in the conference. The Sagehens were held to a .120 hitting percentage with
Chloe Gill recording a team high eight kills with
Kylie Mies dishing out 14 assists and
Paige Wilson picking up 14 digs. The Sagehens will return to Claremont tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. to host the Caltech Beavers for the final regular season match.
How It Happened
The Sagehens started out the night with a 3-0 run, but the Poets quickly gained momentum in front of a full home crowd, charging forward to a 10-7 lead before extending it to 13-8. The Sagehens brought the run to a halt with another 3-0 run, but the Poets regrouped and extended their lead to 17-13 to force a Pomona-Pitzer timeout. The Sagehens were able to cut the lead to 19-17 out of the break with kills from
Samantha Grabb and
Paige Wilson but Whittier closed set one on a 6-3 run to take set one 25-20.
Whittier started set two on the front foot with a 3-0 run, but Pomona-Pitzer answered with five straight points to take a 5-3 lead. From there the Poets responded with a 5-1 run and extended their lead to 11-8 to force a Sagehen timeout. The two teams went back and forth, trading points for 12 straight points before the Poets finally scored two in a row to take the lead at 18-14, forcing another Sagehen timeout. Pomona-Pitzer made a late surge, using a 4-2 run to cut the Whittier lead to 20-18, forcing a Poets timeout. Pomona-Pitzer continued to battle down the stretch, pulling within one at 22-21 but a 3-1 run from the Poets gave Whittier set two 25-22.
The Poets came out swinging in set three, earning four kills to take a 4-0 lead before making their way to a 7-2 lead to force an early Sagehen timeout. The Poets put the pressure on, using a 4-1 run to extend their lead to 11-3. Pomona-Pitzer finally responded, storming back into the contest with a 7-0 run with kills from
Chloe Gill along with two service aces from
Eleanor Nicholson, cutting the Poets lead to 11-10. The Poets answered with a 6-3 run to push their lead to 16-13. The Sagehens pulled within one at 16-15, 17-16, and 18-17 but struggled to find the tie as the Poets scored three straight to force a Sagehen timeout with a 21-17 lead. Out of the break, the Poets finished the sweep on a 5-2 run, taking set three 25-19.
