LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2022)- The Poets traveled to Los Angeles Saturday, looking for a season sweep of the Occidental Tigers in the SCIAC match. Coming off consecutive sweep defeats, the Poets would all again, this time in four sets. 

The first set remained close in the beginning, the score tied at 14 after a nice run from Whittier. The Poets would hold a late 20-18 lead before six straight attack errors allowed Oxy to prevail, 25-21. 

The Tigers jumped out to a good start, leading 6-2, forcing Whittier to take its first timeout. Out of the timeout, Oxy went on a 7-1 run to make the score 13-3. Following their second timeout, the Poets started to make a comeback. The Whittier women were not ready to give up and went on a little run of their own to make the score 17-11 Tigers. Oxy ultimately took the set, 25-13. 

After trailing 2-0 to begin the third set, Whittier went on a 7-0 run to lead 7-2, as a result of multiple Oxy attack errors. The Poets kept up their strong play and forced the Tigers' second timeout, leading 13-7. The game would then get closer as Oxy cut its deficit to a single point, 13-12. The Tigers then tied the game at 18 at one point before Kaitlin Bullock's kill delivered a 25-21 Poets victory. 

Whittier took an early 6-3 lead in the fourth and then led 10-4. The Tigers then went on a four-point run to trail 10-8. Oxy then worked its way back to take a 16-15 lead over Whittier. Whittier fought back to tie the game at 19, but could not score enough to prevent an Occidental 25-20 set victory and match win.

The Poets were led in kills by Cheyanne Ybanez with 10, and Brooke Sasaki contributed 15 digs. 

After dropping their third straight SCIAC match, the Whittier women fall to 4-6 in conference play. The Poets' next match will take place at home Tuesday Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. against the La Verne Leopards.

Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

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