WHITTIER, Calif. (Sept. 24, 2021) – Led by an outstanding 20-20 showing from senior outside hitter Katelyn Popoff (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Sonora), the Whittier College volleyball team broke into the SCIAC win column on Friday night and earned Head Coach Chris Duarte-McDermott his 100th win at the helm of the Purple & Gold.

"Getting the win tonight feels great," Duarte-McDermott said. "I'm so proud of the team and to have a great win like tonight to be my 100th here at Whittier makes it extra special."

The Poets succeeded in setting an early tone with the Panthers, jumping out to a 16-8 lead while playing some their most technically sound volleyball to date this season. Whittier's greatest stretch of the first frame came on an 11-3 run capped off by a kill from Franki Piloto (Ontario, Calif. / Pomona Catholic). The senior outside hitter made her presence felt early with four of her six kills coming in the first set. While the Panthers would claw back to knot the set at 21, the Poets put a stamp on their first set performance by winning four of the final five points, with a kill from sophomore middle blocker Xenia Villagomez (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) putting the exclamation point on the effort.

The second frame was perhaps less eventful than the first for all the right reasons. Whittier jumped out to a 10-5 lead on Chapman and kept its distance for the remainder of the frame to take a 2-0 lead. The Poets would, however, need to overcome some adversity following a third set that saw the Panthers come out on top. Whittier has, after all, felt this type of late pressure before when Whitworth University came to town earlier this month. On that night, the Pirates came back from two sets down to earn the win, but the Poets were intent on learning from their mistakes and closing the door on the Panthers in the fourth.

"I just told the girls that we needed to find the energy and confidence we had in sets one and two," Duarte-McDermott said. "I expressed to them that the match wasn't over and Chapman wasn't going to lose it for us so we had to go out and earn the win."

The fourth set saw Popoff raise the already high bar for herself once again and dominate the visiting team in the air. The senior picked up eight of her 20 kills during the fourth set, as well as eight of Whittier's 17 team kills during that span. The eventual triumph did not come without resistance from Chapman, however. The Panthers led for the entirety of the third set up until both teams were knotted at 20. From there, Popoff earned two of the next three points with assists from junior setter Della Trimble (Saratoga, Calif. / West Valley College). Eventually, the Poets exhausted the final timeout of the set trailing 23-22, but went on to win three consecutive points thanks to an attacking error from the visitors as well as a pair of service aces from senior libero Madisen Diaz (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Bishop Amat) that closed the door for good. Popoff, who hit the ball at a .300 clip, also picked up the slack defensively with 23 digs to complete the 20-20 night. Diaz, meanwhile, also finished the match with 23 digs.

"Katelyn had a fantastic night and did exactly what we know she is capable of," Duarte-McDermott said. "I was really proud of her and her performance and I absolutely love coaching her.  She works really hard and deserved the performance she had tonight."

Other contributing Poets included Piloto, who added five assisted blocks and freshman Analise Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont), who dominated at the net by assisting on four of Piloto's blocks to go with three solo blocks of her own. Trimble, meanwhile totaled 26 assists while sophomore Jordan Duyan-Heard (San Dimas, Calif. / San Dimas) spelled her for a season-best 16 assists.

Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will have a quick turnaround and will be looking to make it consecutive conference wins on Saturday, Sept. 25 when they travel to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges for a 4 p.m. tilt.

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