Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LA VERNE, Calif. –The Whittier College Volleyball team held their fate in their own hands Saturday afternoon as a win would send them into the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Tournament as a No. 2 seed.
But the Purple & Gold were unable to pull off the road win as they fell in four sets to the University of La Verne 25-17, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20 bumping them out of playoff contention.
The top four teams included Claremont-M-S (23-5, 15-1), La Verne (18-8, 11-5 SCIAC), Cal Lutheran (15-11, 10-6 SCIAC), and Chapman (16-10, 10-6 SCIAC).
The Poets got off to a slow start hitting in the negatives over the first two sets giving ULV a 2-0 lead. They bounced back to cut the deficit to one, hitting .229 in the third set but couldn't overcome a Leopard .395 in the fourth.
Ashley Whittall (Norwalk, Calif.) was the lone Poet in double figures with 14 and added seven digs. Jazmyn Sudbrook-Johnson (Fremont, Calif.) registered eight kills and Alaina Rhee (Kent, WA) chipped in with six along with four block assists.
Camryn Purdom (Moreno Valley, Calif.) added 29 assists and 11 digs posting yet another double double, while Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) put up 17 digs in her final game of her collegiate career.
Whittier sees their 2017 regular season come to a close as they finish 18-9, 10-6 SCIAC with a 5th place finish in the SCIAC standings. The 18 wins is the second most in Head Coach Chris Duarte-McDermotts tenure at Whittier and the second most in program history. Right now the Poets are currently preparing for the NCAA Division III West Regionals with the hope of getting an at-large bid.
