LA VERNE, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team dropped a hard fought battle 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 26-24) to the La Verne Leopards in the 2023 SCIAC Tournament Semifinal on Thursday night. Chloe Gill, Paige Mountanos, and Charlotte Sekerka led the Sagehens attack with Gill recording eight kills while Mountanos and Sekerka both ended the night with seven kills. Paige Wilson patrolled the entire court, recording 27 digs with four kills and three block assists. Corrina Benson recorded 14 digs with seven assists while Eleanor Nicholson dished out 14 assists. Kylie Mies also recorded double-digit assists with 11 on the night. Kellan Hayes was also an impactful players for the Sagehens with eight block assists on the night and three kills. 
 
How It Happened
The Sagehens fell behind 3-1 in set one but quickly rallied back with kills from Paige Mountanos and Chloe Gill to take a 4-3 lead. The Leopards surged forward with a 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead and force a Sagehen timeout. Pomona-Pitzer closed the gap to 10-9 but La Verne continued to edge out the Sagehens, working to a 17-14 lead. Pomona-Pitzer began their charge, tying the set at 19-19 before taking a 22-21 lead after a 3-0 run with a kill from Charlotte Sekerka and a block from Sekerka and Samantha Grabb. The Leopards tied the set at 22-22 to stop the Sagehen run. Pomona-Pitzer regained the lead with a kill from Sekerka at 23-22 but a 3-0 run for the Leopards gave them set one 25-23. 
 
La Verne continued to attack in set two, taking a 4-1 lead before extending it to 7-4. A 3-0 run from the Sagehens tied the set at 7-7 but the Leopards rallied back to regain the lead at 13-9. From there, the Sagehens scored five straight points to take the lead at 14-13. La Verne went on a 6-2 run to take the lead at 19-16. La Verne was able to end the set on a 6-2 run to take the set 25-18 and go up 2-0 on the night. 
 
The Sagehens played well facing elimination, starting set three on a 5-1 run before extending their lead to 8-3. La Verne stormed back into the set with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 8-8 and force a Sagehen timeout. The two teams traded attacks back and forth before the Sagehens broke free with a 3-0 run to take the lead at 16-13 and force a La Verne timeout. Out of the break, the Sagehens used a small 3-1 run to extend the lead to 19-14, capping it off with a service ace from Hanna Chen. Despite two points from La Verne, Pomona-Pitzer continued to push forward, working their way to a 22-16 lead to force another Leopards timeout. The break came at the right time for La Verne as the Leopards went on a 5-0 run out of the timeout to force a Sagehen timeout with just a 22-21 point lead. The Leopards tied the set at 22-22 but the Sagehens ended the set on a 3-1 run to take it 25-23 and send the match to the fourth set. 
 
La Verne held the early advantage at 5-3 but the Sagehens quickly countered with a 4-0 run to take the lead at 7-5. The set continued to swing back and forth with the two teams working to a tie on five different occasions until the Sagehens force a La Verne timeout after a 3-0 run with the lead at 16-14. The Sagehens continued to push forward, seemingly chasing a fifth set as they worked to a convincing 20-16 lead in front of a packed La Verne crowd. The surge from the Sagehens forced another late timeout from La Verne, setting up a wild finish to the fourth set. The Leopards went on a 5-2 run out of the timeout, cutting the Sagehens lead to 22-21. A quick kill from Kylie Mies gave the Sagehens a 23-21 lead but La Verne earned a kill of their own to stay within one at 23-22. A late ball handling error gave the Sagehens the 24-22 lead, giving the Sagehens an opportunity to force the fifth set but back to back kills from the Leopards tied the set at 24-24. A service ace and block from La Verne cut the Sagehens comeback efforts short as La Verne took the set 26-24 and the match 3-1.