Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

Videos by: Whittier College Sports Network

WHITTIER, Calif. – In a packed Graham Athletic Center, the Whittier College women's volleyball team threatened No. 5 Cal Lutheran University Friday evening taking the first set and holding an advantage late in the second before falling in four, 25-23, 23-25, 8-25, 23-25.    

With the loss the Poets drop to 5-6, 2-2 SCIAC, while Cal Lutheran improves to 11-1, 1-0 SCIAC.

In front of a raucous crowd including waves, chants, dancing, and much, much more, the Purple & Gold proved to be contenders for a SCIAC Post Season Tournament Berth.

Despite being close the Poets held a slight advantage throughout the first set.  Cal Lutheran held a 21-20 lead late in the frame but Whittier managed to capitalize on three attacking errors by the Regals to secure the 25-23 first set win.

The second set unfolded in the same way with neither team able to take a substantial lead.   WC got down early 4-0 but fought back to take a lead by as many as three at 20-17 but CLU fought back to even the set at 22 before taking the second set 25-23 due to two attacking errors by Alayna Rigo (Chino Hills, Calif.) and Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.).

After a rough third set where they hit -.108, the Poets came out in the fourth not going down without a fight.  Despite trailing 20-13, the Poets used a 7-0 run to pull within one at 20-19.  After an attacking error by CLU the Poets had another opportunity as they again pulled within one at 23-22 but the rally fell short as Allie Eason would drop two kills in the final three points to help the Regals pull off the decisive set. 

Offensively for Whittier, Rigo totaled 14 kills on 54 attempts, while Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) tallied 10 on 20 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.  Three players reached double digits in the dig category led by Adriana Moore (La Habra, Calif.) who collected 12, while Alyssa Acosta (Whittier, Calif.) and Rigo had 10.    

Kylie McLogan from CLU finished with a game high 18 kills on 45 attempts despite being limited by the Poet front three.  Eason finished with 12, while Pua Mo'Okinioliveira collected 10.

Whittier returns to action next week on Tuesday, September 24 when they host Occidental College at 7:30pm.   That night the entire Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is hosting Alyssa Sialaris Night remembering the dual sport athlete who passed away in early April.