THOUSAND OAKS, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Volleyball team split day one of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational with a 3-0 loss to East Texas Baptist and a 3-2 win over UC Santa Cruz on Friday afternoon on the campus of Cal Lutheran University. The Sagehens then came back with a 3-1 loss to Whitworth on Saturday afternoon.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 0, East Texas Baptist 3
 
Paige Mountanos led the Sagehens with seven kills while Kellan Hayes had three blocks and Jenny Jenks with 18 assists.
 
The Tigers started with a big lead against Pomona-Pitzer jumping out to an 11-1 advantage. ETBU kept that lead to 18-8 and eventually took set one 25-13.
 
The Sagehens stayed with the Tigers in the second set early on trailing just 7-6. ETBU started to pull away at 19-11 as the Tigers took set two 25-15.
 
Pomona-Pitzer started out with the lead in the third set up 10-6 after a kill by Mountanos. The Sagehens kept their lead at 17-16 as they looked to force a fourth set, but the Tigers rallied and came away with the 25-19 win.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 3, UC Santa Cruz 2
 
The Sagehens ended day one with a big five-set win over the Banana Slugs. Samantha Grabb led the way with 16 kills while Chloe Gill and. Paige Mountanos earned 14 in the win. Kellan Hayes led the defense with four blocks and Corrina Benson dug out 19 balls while Jenny Jenks had 44 assists and 13 digs as well.
 
The Sagehens started off with a tight first set loss against UCSC. The Slugs started with a 7-3 lead and kept that lead up 21-16 late in the set. The Sagehens rallied late with six of the next seven points and tied the set at 22-22, but the Slugs held off the comeback and took set one 25-23.
 
The Sagehens flourished in sets two and three hitting .290 and .333, their two highest percentages of the match. Pomona-Pitzer started set two up 7-2 after an ace by Grabb and kept their lead up 22-14 late in the set. Despite holding a big advantage late in the second set, the Slugs came all the way back with a 9-1 run to tie the set at 23-23. The Sagehens were able to fight off the late comeback attempt by the Slugs with kills by Mountanos and Gill to take set two 25-23.
 
Another early lead for the Sagehens in set three up 8-3 to start the third set. The Sagehens continued to grow their lead up as much as 20-10 over UCSC and road that to a much more comfortable win in set three taking a 2-1 lead.
 
Santa Cruz jumped ahead in an important fourth set to keep the match alive with a 7-2 lead. The Sagehens fought back to tie the game at 12-12, but the Slugs sparked a run to make it 20-15 and eventually took set four 25-19 to force a fifth set.
 
An extremely tight fifth set between the two teams to decide the winner with the Sagehens jumping out to a 4-0 lead to force Santa Cruz to play from behind. The Slugs came back to tie the match at 11-11, but kills Benson and Grabb moved the Sagehens to match point at 14-12.  Pomona-Pitzer had trouble putting away UCSC with the teams tied at 15-15 and then Santa Cruz taking a 17-16 lead, but three-straight points to end the match with a kill from Mountanos and aces from Jenks gave the Sagehens a 3-2 win.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 1, Whitworth 3
 
The Sagehens turned their attention to Whitworth to end the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational. Mountanos led the Sagehen attack with 13 kills while Gill had nine and Grabb had seven. Hayes had two blocks while Mountanos also led the team in digs with 10 and Jenks with 20 assists.
 
The Sagehens started the first set with a 9-6 lead over the Pirates until Whitworth drew level at 10-10. The Pirates then took over the first set with a 9-0 run and eventually took set one 25-13.
 
The Pirates carried their momentum into the second set with an 18-13 lead, but it was the Sagehens' turn to make a big run with a 6-0 burst to take a 19-18 lead. The Pirates ended the run with back-to-back points, but the Sagehens ended the second set strong with a 25-22 win to even the match at 1-1.
 
The Pirates went on to take the third set to take a 2-1 lead after an early lead carried them through the third set where the Sagehens never led to come within one set of earning the match.
 
The Sagehens started off with a lead in the fourth set up 9-6, but another big scoring run from the Pirates gave them a 16-10 lead. Pomona-Pitzer clawed all the way back to tie the game at 21-21, but Whitworth rallied for the final four points to take the win over Pomona-Pitzer.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will next head to CMS on Friday, September 27^th at 7:00 p.m.