WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 11, 2023) – The Whittier College women's volleyball team completed the first half of the 2023 SCIAC schedule on Tuesday night, defeating the University of Redlands, 3-1, in a match where the Poets had to overcome some early adversity to dig out their ninth overall victory of the campaign.
Freshman middle blocker
Brenna Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont), who has come on strong in recent games, played as key a role in her team's Tuesday night win as any Poet, picking up 10 kills on 21 attempts. She ended up hitting .333 on the match, and has cemented herself as yet another reliable young option for the Poets at the net. However, the Poets conceded seven of Redlands' 25 first-set points on serves, and ended up dropping a closely contested first frame despite outhitting the Bulldogs and committing fewer errors on the attack.
Whittier rebounded in a big way in the second set, with their hitting percentage normalizing back to a cool .304 behind the efforts of Kusleika and her teammates. Senior middle blocker
Xenia Villagomez (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) led Whittier with 11 kills in the win, while outside hitters
Sofia Zazueta (La Mirada, Calif. / Orange Lutheran) and
Riley DeGroot (Ontario, Calif. / Mt. San Antonio College) combined for 17 kills and provided ample defensive help with each player accumulating 13 digs. Everything clicked for the Poets during the second frame, with the Poets opening things on a 9-3 run, and finishing on a 6-1 run punctuated by a service ace from junior libero
Nadine Oronoz (Whittier, Calif. / Rio Hondo College). Oronoz also led the Poets' defensive effort with 26 total digs.
Whittier's key defensive players came into focus over the final two sets, which proved to be a lot closer than the second frame. Both teams traded points with Whittier needing to overcome its own serve in a similar fashion to the first two sets. However, the Poets' play at the net gave the team a huge boost (11 total blocks), and some third-set reinforcements further helped boost the home team to its fifth SCIAC win of the season. Junior
Analise Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont) had two solo blocks while assisting on three more, while the other solo block belonged to freshman
Mia D'Amato (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces), who had five assisted blocks to go with her total, in addition to seven kills to just one error. Redlands appeared to have some semblance of control late in the fourth set, with an 18-16 lead in hand, but the Poets fought back, found their form, and found ways to win long, drawn-out points, eventually forcing a Redlands timeout at 21-19. From there, Whittier cruised, with one kill from Villagomez ending things once and for all.
Head Coach
Chris Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will have the rest of the week to rest up before hosting California Lutheran University in a pivotal SCIAC tilt on Tuesday, Oct. 17. While the Poets will not clinch a SCIAC Postseason Tournament berth with a win, a second victory over the fifth-place Regals (4-4 SCIAC) will go a long way towards the team controlling their own destiny the rest of the way.
Follow and show support for your Whittier Poets on Twitter (@WCPoets), YouTube and Instagram (@PoetAthletics)!
