Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College volleyball team wrapped up their final home games of 2012 by splitting with Caltech and UC Santa Cruz Friday evening in the friendly confines of the Graham Athletic Center.

With the split, Whittier moves to 10-17, 5-10 SCIAC with one final game left a road contest against the Leopards of the University of La Verne, today, October 27 beginning at 1:00pm.

Game 1 (Caltech – W, 25-13, 25-11, 25-15)

Whittier got things going against the Beavers of Caltech and cruised to a three set victory behind a combined .337 hitting percentage.  The Poets were paced by Megan Kirkpatrick who finished with a double double, which was a game and career high with 16 kills on 26 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage to go with 11 digs.  Lindsey Kish and Victoria Larios were right behind with eight kills apiece, with Kish finishing with 11 digs.  With standouts Alyssa Sialaris and Alayna Rigo sitting the game out, the Poets were still able to roll past the Beavers.

Torrey Mitsunaga and Larios finished with 21 and 20 assists, each respectively, while Ruth Guziec and Ashley Vinsonhaler were strong in the back row finishing with 13 and 10 digs, each respectively.      

Game 2 (UC Santa Cruz – L, 15-25, 25-23, 23-25, 23-25)

In the second game of the doubleheader, Whittier saw the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz pull off the four set victory despite it being a seesaw battle all night long, with the game being up for grabs throughout the match.

Prior to the start of the game, Head Coach Ali Oliver recognized her two seniors who were playing in their final regular season home game of their collegiate career.  These seniors Sialaris and Larios wrapped up their career at Whittier in impressive fashion, but were unable to lead their team to the victory.

Sialaris led the Purple & Gold with 17 kills on42 attempts, while Rigo finished with a double double including 14 kills and 13 digs. 

UCSC saw Kim Rabii finish with a game high 19 kills on 35 attempts for a .486 hitting percentage to go with 15 digs, which was good enough to propel the Banana Slugs to the victory.

Mitsunaga got the nod at the setter position and finished with a game high 35 assists, while Maria Montero finished with one despite getting the start three of the past four games played.

Kish led the back row defensive unit finishing with 10 digs, while Sialaris and Mitsunaga finished with seven apiece.  Katie Heard added to her team lead in blocks finishing with four block assists bringing her total on the season to 59.