Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College volleyball team swept the competition Friday morning on day one of the Pacific Coast Classic earning wins over St. Mary's (Md.) (25-22, 25-22, 26-24) and George Fox (25-14, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23).

The Poets improve to 3-0 and have only dropped one set during the run (9-1). 

Following the two matches, Head Coach Chris Duarte McDermott had this to say: "I think that we had strong energy and a good sense of urgency.  Our girls never quit even when things weren't going our way.  We have been training hard during preseason and the girls have done an excellent job applying and executing what we have worked on.  I think that we need to continue to work on staying steady and not give up any runs of points that are within our control."

Match 1 (St. Mary's) – 25-22, 25-22, 26-24

The Purple & Gold following a sweep of La Sierra University continued their strong play in the first game of the Classic.  They used a .229 hitting percentage in the first set to get out in front early.  The set remained close until the Poets put together a 5-1 run late that put them in front 23-18.  The Seahawks however rallied with four unanswered that pulled them within one but that's as close as they would get as senior setter Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.) would tip one over the front block giving the Poets the 1-0 lead.    

In the second, Whittier jumped out in front quickly 6-1 thanks to five attacking errors by St. Mary's.  This would prove crucial as the Seahawks would again rally to tie things up seven more times from that point, with the last coming at 20-20.  But the Poets would crack down defensively as they would win five of the next six points due in large part to another plethora of Seahawk miscues. 

In the final frame, WC again jumped out in front 10-4, but another mini-run of five straight would keep SMC in the match.  They however could never regain the lead from the Purple & Gold as they would trail by one a majority of the set.  They had an opportunity to steal the set late as the Poets dropped two straight points at 24-22 that knotted things up but after a service error and a kill by Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) the Poets would hold on for the clean sweep.

Lowden led the Poets with a team high 12 kills on 27 attempts for a .407 hitting percentage along with 16 digs.  She was joined by Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.) who had eight kills and two block assists, while Mitsunaga totaled 15 assists.

Match 2 (George Fox) – 25-14, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23

The second match-up of the day pinned the Poets against Northwest Conference powerhouse George Fox who came in with the biggest front line in the classic, which included Erin Dellinger (6-3), Anna Alsager (6-3), Erin Sprowls (6-2) and Cassidy Scott (6-0).

But the Poets rose to the occasion, both literally and figuratively as they went after the big front line, led by Slattery who had a game high 18 kills on 37 attempts along with Lowden who had 17 kills, 12 digs, three service aces, and two block assists.

Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) who subbed in for Jennifer Estrada (Pasadena, Calif.) after her elbow injury she suffered in the first match played spectacular in the backrow as she picked up 21 digs and nine assists.

Mitsunaga and Jasmine Tong (Fullerton, Calif.) captained the Poets offense as they had 22 and 20 assists, respectively, while freshman Kyriaki Tsigkounis (Rialto, Calif.) provided a spark off the bench with six kills on 14 attempts for a .357 hitting percentage.

Whittier laid the hammer down in the first set hitting .359 as a team that gave them the lopsided 25-14 win.  In the second though, they dropped down to .083 that proved costly as the Bruins would capitalize leveling the match at one.  But the Poets bounced back to hit .341 and .229 in the last two sets that propelled them to their third straight victory.  WC led throughout and maintained that lead despite a couple scares, which came in the fourth set, when they led 24-21 and saw GF come back to pull within one, but that's as close as they would get as Slattery would put the finishing touches on the four set victory.             

Whittier wraps up the Pacific Coast Classic today, Saturday, September 5 as they take on LeTourneau and Wisc.-Stout at 1:30pm and 3:30pm, each respectively.