Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball team picked up their second win on the week by beating Pomona-Pitzer 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22 on the road and currently ride a winning streak of four games.

Whittier remains in the driver's seat as they remain in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) playoff contention improving to 15-6, 7-3 SCIAC.

The Purple & Gold have now swept Pomona-Pitzer on the season improving to 2-0.    

Whittier got off to a hot start taking the first two sets putting PP in an early hole.  Trailing 7-4 in the first set, the Poets used a 10-2 run to swing the momentum and go in front 14-9 thanks to aggressive serving by freshman Ashley Whittall (Norwalk, Calif.).

The Sagehens pulled within one at 17-16 but back-to-back-to-back kills from Alaina Rhee (Kent, WA), Whittall, and Jazmyn Sudbrook-Johnson (Fremont, Calif.) would extend the WC lead to 20-16.  The Sagehens managed to fight their way back to tie things up at 20-20 soon after but a closing 5-1 run by the Purple & Gold would secure the first set. 

The Poets continued their offensive attack in the second set storming out to a dominating 15-1 lead as Dominique Almuena (La Mirada, Calif.) and Whittall proved tough serving.  The Sagehens attempted to claw their back into the period but the deficit was too much to overcome as WC opened the game up.

In the third, Pomona-Pitzer didn't back down and continued to fight.  They held a late 22-17 lead following a 6-0 run.   Whittier managed to pull within one on two different occasions soon after before thwarting a set point with an Almuena service ace.  But the final two points would go with the Sagehens as they remained alive in the match.

In the fourth, it was back and forth.  PP was able to go in front at 21-17 with a 7-1 run.  But a kill from Abby Salmon (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) followed by back to back aces from Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) would turn the momentum sparking a Poet comeback as they would rattle off five of the final six points, which included back to back connections from Makenzie Thieme (Corona, Calif.).

Thieme led the attack with 14 kills on 36 attempts hitting .333 and Whittall added 10 kills.  Camryn Purdom (Moreno Valley, Calif.) led the point once again with 32 assists and Standafer finished with 16 digs in the backrow.             

Whittier has a short turn around as they host Occidental College tonight, Saturday, October 14 beginning at 6:00pm.