Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball team fell in straight sets Tuesday evening falling to the University of La Verne 25-11, 25-17, 25-14.

Whittier now drops to 7-13, 3-6 SCIAC, while La Verne improves to 16-4, 7-2 SCIAC.

It was a hot start for La Verne hitting .324 and getting out in front quickly 6-0 and then 10-1.  Whittier put together four unanswered soon after with a kill from Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) and capitalizing off of three ULV errors to pull within eight but that's as close as they would get as the Leos would close out the first set winning eight of the final nine points. 

In the second, ULV went ahead 7-3 but saw a Poet comeback as they would win five of the next six with kills from Olive Anagu (Culver City, Calif.) and Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.).  This would tie the second frame up at 8-8 but that would be the last time Whittier would even it up as ULV would put together a run of six straight to go back in front 18-10 before cruising to the 25-17 victory in the second.

With their backs up against the wall, Whittier attempted a comeback trying to keep the frame close but they couldn't get any run going as La Verne would take a 12-5 commanding lead before completing the sweep with runs of five straight and four straight.

Slattery finished with 11 kills on the evening.  She was the lone Poet in double figures with Anagu coming in second with four.  Jasmine Tong (Fullerton, Calif.) registered 12 assists and seven digs and Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) totaled 10 digs in the backrow.       

Whittier returns home to host Cal Lutheran University this Friday, October 14 beginning at 7:00pm.