Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College volleyball team with four new faces and an entire new coaching staff got their 2013 season underway over the past two days at the Pacific Coast Classic and picked up their first two wins of the season sweeping competition on day two of the classic. 

Whittier opened up the tournament on Friday against Millikin and UC Santa Cruz and was swept in both matches but bounced back on Saturday to pull out two five setters against NWC opponents Whitworth and Lewis & Clark to finish the tournament at .500. 

Game 1 (UC Santa Cruz – L, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22)

Opening up the Pacific Coast Classic the Poets took on the Banana Slugs from UC Santa Cruz but couldn't mount a rally late as they fell in a tight three set match that could have gone either way. 

Both senior Alayna Rigo (Chino Hills, Calif.) and freshman Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) reached double digits in kills.  Rigo finished with 11 kills on 37 attempts, while posting 12 digs.  Lowden reached 10 kills on 24 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage.   

Sophomore Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) got the nod at setter and finished with a team high 23 assists, with seven digs, while defensively Alyssa Acosta (Whittier, Calif.) and Adriana Moore (La Habra, Calif.) finished with 16 digs a piece from the back row.  

Game 2 (Millikin – L, 25-18, 25-21, 25-17)

Millikin under the leadership of AVCA All-American Audrey Krajec was able to slip past the Poets in straight sets wrapping up the first day of the Classic.  Lowden led the Whittier offense with seven kills, while finishing with nine digs.  Rigo, freshman Rebecca Slattery (Mountain View, Calif.), and sophomore Malia Valdivieso (San Diego, Calif.) each finished with six. 

Moore, Acosta, and Rigo all reached double digits in digs finishing with 21, 21 and 14, each respectively, which were all season highs.       

Game 3 (Whitworth – W, 26-24, 26-24, 18-25, 9-25, 15-13)

Starting off day two of the classic the Poets and Pirates put together a show for the crowd going the distance in the first match of the day.  Whittier jumped out in front quickly taking the first two sets winning 26-24, 26-24.  They however let the Pirates back into the contest dropping the ensuing two sets, which forced a fifth set to be played.

Whittier capitalized early off of the 22 attacking errors by the Pirates and finished the match off by hitting .300 as a team in the fifth set, which helped propel them to the victory.

Valdivieso had a team-high 14 kills for the Poets, while Acosta recorded a match and career high 36 digs.  Slattery proved to be a big body up front recording five blocks for Whittier, three of which were solo blocks.  Lauren Whiteman (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) also got into the mix and recorded her first double-digit kills performance finishing with 10 on 25 attempts for a .360 hitting percentage.  

Rigo finished with nine kills but was huge in the back row finishing with a career high 24 digs.    

Game 4 (Lewis & Clark – W, 14-25, 24-26, 25-21, 27-25, 18-16)

A couple of hours after defeating Whitworth in five sets the Poets came back against Lewis & Clark to earn their second straight victory of the tournament coming back from being two sets down to win in five. 

The Pioneers came out strong in the first set and won in convincing fashion but after a tight second set the Purple & Gold bounced back and pulled out the next three sets by the slimmest of margins to move their record to 2-2.

Full game recap/statistics to follow    

Whittier returns to the court Tuesday, September 10 for their home and conference opener as they host the Bulldogs from the University of Redlands with game time set for 7:30pm.