Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball team faltered Tuesday night on the road against Occidental College falling in four sets 9-25, 25-18, 27-29, 12-25 in Rush Gymnasium.

Despite a slow start Whittier (5-12, 3-5 SCIAC) put together strong sets in the third and fourth but couldn't pull off the comeback. 

After a tough first set loss where they hit .088 the Poets bounced back to hit .273 in the second to level the match at 1-1.  Whittier used an 8-1 run in the middle of the frame to jump in front 15-12 led by a strong serving performance by Alaina Rhee (Kent, WA) supported on the outside by Olive Anagu (Culver City, Calif.) who collected three kills during the spurt. 

Oxy attempted to come back in the frame but a late 6-2 push, which included five unanswered would secure the second for the Purple & Gold.

The fourth was a seesaw battle throughout with both teams having opportunities.  The Tigers held a 16-11 lead midway through but couldn't hold it as Whittier would rally back to tie things up at 21-21.  The game would become tied on four more occasions until Whittier held a set point at 27-26 but they couldn't convert as the Tigers would roll out the final three points to go in front 2-1.

In the fourth it was all Oxy as they would rattle off nine straight to start off the stanza before rolling to the lopsided 25-12 set securing the victory at home.

Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.) led the Poets with 18 kills.  Anagu was one shy of double digits finishing with nine and southpaw Aubrey Caires (Garnderville, NV) would register six.

Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) led the backrow with 18 digs, while Katie Engle (Whittier, Calif.) and Camryn Purdom (Moreno Valley, Calif.) each recorded 10 apiece.

Jasmine Tong (Fullerton, Calif.) totaled 20 assists, while Purdom had 12 and Alexis Mills (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) would combine for four blocks assists.

Whittier returns to action this Friday, October 7 when they take part in the Leopard Invitational where they will take on Muhlenberg (10:00am) and Lynchburg (4:00pm).