Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball team snapped a four game losing skid Friday night on the eve on Homecoming Weekend as they rolled to the 25-23, 25-16, 17-25, 25-18 win over Occidental College that jump started the festivities.

Whittier (15-9, 6-6 SCIAC) continues to inch closer to a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Berth as they saw junior Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.) go off with a season high 17 kills on 40 attempts for a .300 hitting percentage coupled with five block assists.

In the first the Poets trailed 13-8 but battled back to win nine of the next ten points led by the serving of senior Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) that put the Purple & Gold in front 17-14.  The Tigers wouldn't go down without a fight however as they would rally with eight of the next nine points that put them back in front 22-18 but it wouldn't hold.

Whittier would go back on the offensive attack finishing off the set with a 7-2 run, which included six in a row that closed it out capped off with an emphatic kill in the middle by Haley Whyte (Mission Viejo, Calif.).

In the second the Poets continued where they left off using a 6-1 run midway through the stanza that extended their lead to 13-9.  Oxy attempted to get back into the contest pulling within three but that's as close as they would get as Whittier would get back to back replies from Olive Anagu (Culver City, Calif.) and kills from Slattery and Alexis Mills (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) that put the Poets in front 2-0.

Oxy though came back in the third and made it a match.  After trailing 13-10, the Tigers would roll off seven in a row with a strong serving performance coming from Sarah Beene that put Occidental in front 17-13.  Following an attacking error by Shaylee Warner, Whittier would get within one at 18-17 but that's as close as they would get as the Tigers would finish off the frame with six of the final seven points that extended the match to a fourth set.

But the rally would end there as Whittier came out hot in the fourth going in front early 6-1 with two kills coming from Slattery.  Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) then got into the mix soon after that helped the Poets move the score to 13-7 after she put in a service ace.  But Oxy again would battle back with six unanswered that pulled them even at 13-13.  After a few back and forth points and the final set being tied up at 16-16, Whittier would finally put the finishing touches on the Tigers wrapping up the set on a 9-2 run finished with an Anagu kill, while Slattery chipped in with four. 

Anagu finished the night with seven kills, Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) had seven kills that went with 13 digs, Mitsunaga had a team high 26 assists, Jennifer Estrada (Pasadena, Calif.) had a match high 24 digs and Whyte up front had a season high nine blocks (2 solo/7 assisted) that went with nine kills.

Whittier returns home to the Graham Athletic Center tomorrow, Saturday, October 24 when they host Chapman University with playoff implications on the line beginning at 2:00pm.