THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (Sept. 26, 2023) – Led by an offensive outburst from a trio of star Poets, the Whittier College women's volleyball team defeated California Lutheran University, 3-1, on the road to pick up their first SCIAC win of the 2023 season.
Junior
Riley DeGroot (Ontario, Calif. / Mt. San Antonio College), one of the conference's most accurate outside hitters, put on a show in Thousand Oaks with 17 kills on 41 attempts. The kill total is DeGroot's highest since the Poets took on St. John Fisher University at the Pacific Coast Classic in the first game of the season. However, DeGroot was not the only Poet to shine on the road during Tuesday evening's game. Senior middle blocker
Xenia Villagomez (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) and freshman outside hitter
Mia Rogers (Irvine, Calif. / Crean Lutheran) also hit double-digit kills, and did so nearly as efficiently as possible. Both players had 11 kills, making it 22 in all against just six errors between the two of them.
The total is a career-high for the freshman Rogers, who notched her first kill in more than three weeks. Villagomez, meanwhile, has been perhaps the most consistent Poet on a game-to-game basis this season. She has at least eight kills in more than half of Whittier's contests, and leads the team in hitting percentage.
The Poets were surely looking to set the tone early coming off
Saturday's five-set thriller with the nationally-ranked University of La Verne, but were staked to a 4-1 start to the first set following three errors from the Regals, punctuated by a service ace from junior libero
Nadine Oronoz (Whittier, Calif. / Rio Hondo College). From there, the visitors had to ward off an impressive late run from the home team, where they tied things up at 20 before Villagomez took over. The senior registered kills on three of the Poets' final four first-set points, all of which were fed by senior setter
Jordan Heard (San Dimas, Calif. / San Dimas).
The second frame saw the Poets overcome even more adversity, with Cal Lutheran jumping out to a 13-5 lead. However, Whittier persisted to win 20 of the final 29 points and steal the set. Rogers came into her own during this point of the match, subbing in at this price moment of Whittier's steepest deficit to pick up a kill on the very next point. Rogers would log five of her 11 kills during this point, and an additional seven-point run on DeGroot's serve broke the Regals late, and propelled the Poets to a two-set lead. While Whittier would narrowly drop the third, the Purple & Gold successfully regrouped in an equally close fourth set; one in which they ultimately prevailed, 26-24.
Unlike the run-laden first three sets, the final frame between the Poets and Regals on Tuesday night was a back-and-forth affair to the final point. The stakes were as high as ever for Whittier, who faced the possibility of dropping consecutive sets heading into a potential deciding set. However, the team's tenacity showed through in a major way. In the face of a set point for the Regals, Rogers came up big on a dish from Heard, putting the ball in the hands of libero Oronoz with both teams knotted at 24 points apiece. Oronoz responded first with a service ace, followed by a nice setup serve that ultimately resulted in another kill from Rogers to seal the deal. Freshmen
Mia D'Amato (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces) and
Brenna Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont) supplemented the Poets' offense with eight and seven kills each, while junior setter
Morgan Lin (San Dimas, Calif. / San Dimas) hit the 20-assist threshold for the sixth time this year.
Head Coach
Chris Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will look to even up their SCIAC record when they host Caltech on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
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