CLAREMONT, Calif. — Pomona-Pitzer women's volleyball fell in five sets (25-27, 25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 9-15) to Westminster College Thursday night at Voelkel Gymnasium in its 2026 season opener.
Kayla Thienprasiddhi led all hitters with 20 kills in her first collegiate match, adding nine digs and a service ace.
Ella Mesard followed with 13 kills on a .278 clip while
Charlotte Sekerka had nine and three blocks.
Paige Butler posted a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs.
Corrina Benson had a match-high 24 digs, passing the 1,500 career digs mark and becoming the third Sagehen in program history to do so.
The Blue Jays used a 5-0 run late in the opening set to take a 20-18 advantage before back-to-back kills from Mesard tied things back up at 20. Kills from
Anna Krebs and
Matsa Shi later gave the Sagehens a 23-22 lead. Westminster fought back to take a 24-23 lead before a Thienprasiddhi kill and a Benson ace put Pomona-Pitzer back up, 25-24. The Blue Jays, though, scored the next three to take set one, 27-25.
Despite taking a 19-11 lead in set two, the Sagehens trailed 22-21 late after a 11-2 Westminster run. Pomona-Pitzer sealed the 25-23 set win, though, with a 4-1 run to close it. The Sagehens carried their momentum into the third set with an 11-0 run to open behind Benson's serve. Two kills from Thienprasiddhi and a
Sophie Mies ace later put Pomona-Pitzer up 21-16.
Alex Besteman sealed the set two win, 25-19, with a kill.
In the fourth, Pomona-Pitzer got out to another early lead at 12-7 after a block from Besteman and Krebs. The Sagehens later used a 5-0 run behind Mies' serve to go up 23-16. But the Blue Jays refused to go down, using a 10-1 run to take set four, 26-24. Westminster kept its momentum in the decisive fifth set, opening with a 7-0 lead.
Lexi Seres recorded an ace late but the Blue Jays eventually came away with the 15-9 set-five win to take the match, 3-2.
Up Next: The Sagehens will play two tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 4, as part of the Pacific Coast Classic. They will first take on Carleton at 12:30 p.m. PT then Southwestern at 5:30 p.m. PT.
