WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College
volleyball team saw its three-game win streak come to an end on
Tuesday evening as the nine-time defending Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions, University of La
Verne, capitalized on 21 Poet errors in a 3-0 match at the Graham
Athletics Center.
The Poets (3-2, 1-1 SCIAC) were led by the duo of Aya
Nakano and Vanessa Amran who combined for
14 kills and 19 assists.
Whittier stayed with La Verne (8-7, 3-0 SCIAC) in the first set
but the Leopards pulled away late for the 25-16 win. The Leopards
registered 16 first-set kills to Whittier's nine and had an
attacking percentage of .424 to Whittier's .214.
La Verne controlled the second set as they went on to a 25-13
win. The Poets dug themselves in a hole with 12 errors and saw
their attacking percentage drop to -.068.
ULV had 13 kills on 33 attempts with no errors in the second
set.
The third and final set was played tight but La Verne prevailed,
25-22. ULV had nine of its 11 errors in the final set but the Poets
couldn't take advantage. The score was deadlocked at 19 before ULV
won six of the final nine points.
As a team the Poets had four blocks as Nakano, Shannon
Orlins and Kashima Patridge all recorded
solo blocks. Amran and Melissa Johnson chipped
with block assists.
Natalie Barajas and Nakano each had a team-high
12 digs while Johnson, Victoria Larios, Amran and
Nakano each had a serving ace.
The first-set loss snapped Whittier's nine-set win streak.
The Poets return to action on Friday, September 25, as they
travel to Thousand Oaks to face Cal Lutheran at 7:30 pm.
