Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – After going 2-0 on the first day of the La Verne Invite defeating host La Verne and Whitman  the Whittier College Poets volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on the second day of competition falling to Clarkson and UC Santa Cruz.

This drops the Poet squad to 5-4, 2-0 SCIAC with just one more tournament remaining, which will take place in Washington D.C. on September 27 & 28 against Mary Washington and Catholic.

Game 1 (La Verne – W, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23)

Opening up the tournament, the Poets faced a SCIAC match-up against the host La Verne who they dropped a pair of matches to a year ago.  But this time around the Poets got the best of the Leopards winning in straight sets staying undefeated in conference play.

Despite hitting a season low .117 the Poets still managed to pull off the straight sets victory thanks to the Leos hitting .085.  Senior outside hitter Alayna Rigo (Chino Hills, Calif.) led both teams with 10 kills on 26 attempts to go with 16 digs.  Libero Alyssa Acosta (Whittier, Calif.) led the back row with a game high 20 digs. 

On La Verne's side, Brittany Yaxley led the offense finishing with eight kills, while Tiffany Mancuso finished with a game high 26 assists.     

Game 2 (Whitman – W, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20)

In the second game of the tournament the Poets found themselves matched up against yet another Northwest Conference opponent but were able to get past them in four sets winning 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20.  This marks the third Northwest opponent the Poets have played this season and they are now 3-0 against them.

Rigo was the lone Poet in double figures in kills finishing with 17 on 40 attempts for a .300 hitting percentage.  The next closest was Rebecca Slattery (Mountain View, Calif.) who had eight on 14 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.  Acosta once again reached the 20 plateau on digs finishing with 21 to go with three service aces.

For Whitman, both Franny Gardner and Shae Kanakaole reached double figures finishing with 12 and 10 kills, each respectively, while four players reached double digits in the dig category.   

Game 3 (Clarkson – L, 13-25, 25-20, 14-25, 17-25)

Opening up the second day of competition the Poets matched up against Clarkson University who were coming off a near upset of No. 4 Elmhurst College.  Despite evening the match at a set a piece the Poets couldn't find their offensive spark late as they dropped sets three and four 25-18 and 25-16.

Despite hitting a low .140 as a team the Poets saw Rigo and Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) reach double digit kills with 17 and 10 each respectively.  Five players recorded double digit digs led by Acosta who finished with 19.  Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) who led the front row with 32 assists also recorded a season high 18 digs, while Courtney DeLano (Riverside, Calif.) totaled four kills and three blocks (one solo, two assisted).

For the Golden Knights, Lani Durio led the way with 21 assists and was aided by Kirstie Shurie, who tossed in 19 assists, three aces, and nine digs. Once again, Victoria Kirkemo led the way with 15 kills, this time adding in nine digs, while Chin had 18 digs. Walker hit .350 for the match on nine kills with two errors in 20 swings.        

Game 4 (UC Santa Cruz – L, 28-26, 26-28, 20-25, 20-25)

To wrap up the tournament the Poets faced off against UC Santa Cruz for the second time this season and despite coming away with their second loss to the Banana Slugs, Whittier this time around fell in four sets putting up a battle.

Led by Acosta in the back row who collected a career and season high 40 digs, it wasn't enough as the Banana Slugs hit .160 and saw three players record double digit kills en route to the 28-26, 26-28, 20-25, 20-25.

Rigo and Lowden again reached double digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively, while Mitsunaga totaled 39 assists.  Rigo also had 24 digs and Adriana Moore (La Habra, Calif.) had 21.