Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College volleyball team put Cal Lutheran University on their heels Tuesday evening pushing the No. 2 ranked Regals in three tight sets in the Graham Athletic Center (25-20, 25-16, 25-15).
With the loss the Poets drop to 5-9, 4-4 SCIAC, while Cal Lutheran remains perfect in conference play at 19-1, 8-0 SCIAC.
Whittier came out firing on all cylinders going in front 2-0 before moving the score to 10-2 behind a plethora of kills from Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.), Haley Whyte (Mission Viejo, Calif.), and Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) forcing CLU Head Coach Kellee Roesel to take a quick timeout.
The Regals however began chipping away getting five service points from Jena Chavez that moved the score to 11-7. Trailing 14-11, CLU would again put together another run but this time turning the deficit into their first lead of the contest 18-14.
A Poets block from Whyte and Slattery would bring the Poet faithful to their feet to keep WC in striking distance but a kill from Hannah Orlandi and an attacking error by the Poets would close out the first set putting CLU in front.
The second set saw Whittier jump out in front again 7-3 but this time behind strong serving from freshman Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.). But again five unanswered would shift the momentum in favor of the Regals as they would take the lead 8-7, a lead they would not relinquish despite the Purple & Gold tying up the set at 12-12. From this point, CLU would go on a 6-1 run to go back in front 18-13 before closing out the frame to put the Poets in a 2-0 hole.
In the third, the set remained close early as both teams went back and forth. But another run would move the score to 10-4 in favor of the Regals. Allie Eason would serve six straight, which included a pair of aces to push the deficit to 21-8, before she notched her 11th kill of the night to wrap up the match.
Whittier looked to Slattery who tallied 10 kills, while Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) had 15 assists. Three different players had four digs for the Poets and Slattery and Whyte had four block assists apiece.
For the Regals Michelle Lawrence and Sarah Pappas had eight and seven kills, respectively, while Chavez finished with 18 assists and Peters with 14. Defensively, CLU combined for 10 block assists, paced by Pappas with three. Eason led the team with nine digs and Lawrence came up with eight.
Whittier returns to the court this weekend October 10-11 as they take part in the Pomona Invitational taking on Widener (Friday, October 10 @ 11:00am), Nazareth (Friday, October 10 @ 4:00pm), and Endicott (Saturday, October 11 @ 1:30pm).
