Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball team remains hot as they won their second straight match following a convincing 25-10, 25-17, 25-19 sweep over Chapman University Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Poets complete the sweep over Chapman this season not dropping a set to the Panthers as they improve to 16-9, 7-6 SCIAC holding onto that fourth spot in the SCIAC Standings.

"I think that this win and every win from here on out is huge because it gets us closer to a top four finish in conference, which is obviously where we want to be," stated Head Coach Chris Duarte-McDermott. 

Playing in front of one of the largest crowds on the season, the Purple & Gold came out firing on all cylinders storming out in front taking a 10-2 lead, which included an early 6-0 run led by senior Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) who had a service ace and assisted Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.) for four straight kills and Haley Whyte (Mission Viejo, Calif.) with two in the middle.

Whittier continued to roll putting together an 8-1 run that moved the score to 18-4 before Olive Anagu (Culver City, Calif.) would put the finishing touches on the set with one of her four kills on the day.

After hitting a season high .483 in the first set as a team, Whittier didn't let up combining to hit .438 in the second getting out in front 13-7 and holding onto that advantage throughout as they would put CU in a hole 2-0.

In the third, Chapman attempted to come back tying things up at 7-7 and would stay within striking distance for the next few points but the Poets would add four of the next five that extended their lead to six before finishing off the sweep with a 5-2 run.

Slattery led all scorers with 23 kills on 33 attempts for a career high .697 hitting percentage.  Whyte would total eight on 14 attempts for a .357 percentage and Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) would total six kills and four digs.  Mitsunaga would finish with 24 assists, while Jasmine Tong (Fullerton, Calif.) would total 14, and Jennifer Estrada (Pasadena, Calif.) would finish with 18 digs in the back row.

"I think the girls want to keep going because it's an exciting opportunity in front of us so that definitely makes it easier to keep them motivated to get better every day," explained Duarte-McDermott.               

The Poets have a big week ahead of them as they travel to Redlands tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27 beginning at 7:30pm before coming home for the Black Out Block Party Event this Friday, October 30 beginning at 7:30pm against Pomona-Pitzer.