WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 21, 2023) – Junior outside hitter
Riley DeGroot (Ontario, Calif. / Mt. San Antonio College) found her dominant form to help the Whittier College women's volleyball team defeat Chapman University, 3-0, on Tuesday night in the Graham Athletic Center.
The win is arguably the Poets' biggest of the year, as it not only gives them the season sweep over the Panthers, but helps them tremendously as the hunt for the SCIAC Postseason Tournament continues to wage. Should the Poets finish the season tied with California Lutheran University, a total set tiebreaker would be enacted in which the Poets currently hold an edge, as well as two games in hand. However, the Regals fell to the Panthers, Tuesday night's opponent, over the weekend, ceding the inside track for the fourth seed back to Whittier, provided the Purple & Gold could defeat Chapman on Tuesday.
DeGroot and her teammates did just that, and now control their own destiny heading into the stretch run of the 2023 regular season. The junior had no trouble hitting her spots on Tuesday night, finishing the evening with 11 kills over just three sets, helping the home team get a three-set sweep. Additionally, Whittier seemed to get better as the match continued to progress, winning two closely contested sets before blowing out Chapman in the final frame. The Poets beat the Panthers 25-13 in that set, hitting a sublime .393 along the way to seal their winning fate. DeGroot shined over this stretch, putting away kills from junior
Morgan Lin (Glendora, Calif. / Glendora) and senior
Jordan Heard (San Dimas, Calif. / San Dimas), though she was far from the only offensive star for Whittier on Tuesday night. Freshman
Brenna Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont) delivered on nine kills of her own, while senior middle blocker
Xenia Villagomez (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) delivered on four of her five kills entirely over the first set, without a single error over that stretch.
In the third frame, Whittier had little trouble taking it to Chapman, feeding off the serve of junior libero
Nadine Oronoz (Whittier, Calif. / Rio Hondo College), who steered her team to an 8-1 run to kick things off. Four different Poets registered kills during this time, while Oronoz delivered a beautiful ace on the seventh point to further throw off any momentum the Panthers could muster. This was not the only big run of the set for the Purple & Gold, however, with Heard, along with sophomore outsider hitter
Sofia Zazueta (La Mirada, Calif. / Orange Lutheran) combining to lead Whittier on a subsequent 9-1 run in the middle of the set to stake them to a 23-9 lead. With the match seemingly a formality at this point, back-to-back kills from the younger Kusleika sister did the Panthers in for good. Her older sister,
Analise Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont), had one of her best matches of the season, leading the Poets' efforts at the net with three assisted blocks to go with four kills on 13 attempts. Villagomez and freshman
Mia D'Amato (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces), meanwhile, totaled four total blocks, combining on two each in addition to contributing a pair of solo blocks.
Ultimately, Whittier's efficiency on its own serve proved vital to the Poets' efforts on Tuesday. The home team contributed more aces (4) than errors (3) off their serve, while limiting the visiting Panthers on their serve.
Head Coach
Chris Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will try to make it consecutive wins when they travel to Occidental College on Friday, Oct. 27, for a 7 p.m. game.
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