Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 27, 2021) – A big collective performance on the road allowed the Whittier College volleyball team to take care of business at Occidental College on Friday evening, beating the Tigers, 3-0.
The Poets struck the ball well over the course of all three sets, putting together their most even performance as a team perhaps since they last played the Tigers on Dave Jacobs Court. Occidental fought back through the first 36 points of the first set, but Whittier won seven of the final nine points thanks to the work of senior Katelyn Popoff (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Sonora) and freshman Analise Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont). The latter player notched kills on two of the final three points to seal the frame for the visiting team. From there, Whittier rolled winning the final two sets by a 10 and seven-point margin.
Popoff finished the game with 12 kills to just three errors, but she was not the only standout Poet on Friday. Classmate Franki Piloto (Ontario, Calif. / Pomona Catholic) had one of her best games in recent memory, picking up nine kills en route to a .364 percentage. She also assisted on three of the Poets' seven total blocks. Meanwhile, Kusleika notched six kills on just 11 total attacks, and junior Kaitlin Bullock (Rocklin, Calif. / Humboldt State) rounded out the Whittier attack with seven kills of her own. Defensively, senior libero Julia Trujillo (Chino, Calif. / Univ. of La Verne) led the way with 18 of the Poets' 60 digs as a team, while junior setter Della Trimble (Saratoga, Calif. / West Valley College) had an active evening, assisting on 34 of her team's 39 kills.
The victory keeps the Poets mathematically in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament picture heading into the final Saturday of the season after California Lutheran University lost, 3-0, at Caltech. The Poets and Regals both sit at 8-7, but Whittier will need a victory on Saturday in addition to one more Cal Lutheran loss in order to break into the SCIAC tournament as the fourth-seeded team. The Regals will match up against the University of Redlands (2-19, 0-15 SCIAC) in their final game of the regular season.
Head Coach Chris Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will be back in action for one final time this year on Saturday, Oct. 30 when they host No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in a pivotal Senior Night matchup. Action is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
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