Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

PASADENA, Calif. (Oct. 23, 2021) – The Whittier College volleyball team played its second game in as many days and had the season series evened with Caltech in Pasadena on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Xenia Villagomez (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) and junior Kaitlin Bullock (Rocklin, Calif. / Humboldt State) stepped up to lead the shorthanded Poets on the road. Villagomez scored six kills to just one error, amounting to a team-best .400 percentage. She also had a hand in three of her side's five total blocks. Bullock, meanwhile, led the visitors with seven kills on a match-high 29 attempts. Whittier also received key attacking contributions from freshman Tialani Olotoa (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. / Rancho Cucamonga) and junior Hailey Kelley (Porterville, Calif. / Monache), who were each able to produce a pair of kills.

With Saturday's result, the Poets' path to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament just got murkier. Whittier now sits a game-and-a-half behind California Lutheran University with the Regals holding the tiebreaker. A Cal Lutheran victory over Caltech on Friday or one more Whittier defeat will mathematically eliminate the Poets from the postseason tournament picture.

Nevertheless, Head Coach Chris Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will look to get back on the winning track and finish the 2021 season strong when they host the University of Redlands on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.

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