Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball Team's winning streak ended Friday evening as they fell in a tight four sets 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 to the Leopards of the University of La Verne.

With every match becoming crucial in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings, the Purple & Gold were unable to climb out of the early 2-0 hole as they dropped to 5-8, 4-3 SCIAC.

The Poets jumped out quickly 9-3 and then 18-12 in the first set thanks to six kills from Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.) catching the Leopards off guard.  But the Leos rallied behind Brittany Yaxley who finished with 17 kills on the evening to pull within four 18-14 before taking their first lead 24-22.  Following a kill from Alexis Mills (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and an attacking error from Kelsi Robinson the Poets would level the frame at 24-24, but La Verne would get a kill and a block on the next two points to claim the first set. 

Whittier would drop the second to fall into a 2-0 hole, but would bounce back in the third to keep their upset hopes alive winning 25-23.  The Purple & Gold would again take a late lead 22-15 but got a scare from LV as they would rattle off the ensuing six points to cut the deficit to one, but big kills from Haley Whyte (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) would clinch the set forcing a fourth.

In the ensuing frame, Whittier would go in front 2-1 before both teams would begin trading points through the set totaling 10 ties.  But in the latter stages La Verne managed to pull away closing out the set on a 9-4 run clinching their fourth straight win in conference play. 

Slattery finished the evening with 12 kills on 34 attempts for a .235 hitting percentage.  Whyte posted 11 kills and a career high six blocks, while Lowden had nine kills and 10 digs. 

Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) had a strong game finishing with 37 assists, two kills, 12 digs, and three blocks, while Clarissa Standafer (Whittier, Calif.) finished with 12 digs in the backrow.

Whittier has Saturday off and begins preparing for a big week of volleyball, which includes a home game against Cal Lutheran University (Tuesday, October 7 @ 7:30pm) and an appearance in the Pomona Invitational where they will take on Widener (Friday, October 10 @ 11:00am), Nazareth (Friday, October 10 @ 4:00pm), and Endicott (Saturday, October 11 @ 1:30pm).