WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 8, 2024) – The Whittier College volleyball team dominated Occidental College on Tuesday night to get back on the winning track and improve its SCIAC standing, but the win did not come without the Poets having to overcome some early adversity.
The Poets had to dig out of an 8-2 hole in the opening stanza and were in need of a wake-up call. They found one after Head Coach
Chris Duarte-McDermott took a timely timeout at 7-2. The Tigers were able to get one more point and increase their lead to six, but to say the Poets came storming back would be a gross understatement. Junior setter
Sophia Padilla (Fontana, Calif. / St. Lucy's) took her turn in the serving rotation and proceeded to rattle off a season-best 11-point run with six of the points ending at the Poets' hands. Sophomore opposite side hitter
Mia D'Amato (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces) particularly came alive during the run with two of her 10 kills during this stretch.
The same can be said for classmate
Brenna Kusleika (Upland, Calif. / Claremont), who found some of her late-2023 form with four of her 11 kills coming during the run. While Oxy managed to break up the run temporarily, the Poets hung another eight-point run on the Tigers to create insurmountable distance between the two teams on the serve of senior outside hitter
Riley DeGroot (Ontario, Calif. / Ontario Christian / Mt. San Antonio College). Kusleika added two more kills here, while freshman outside hitter
Malena The (Chino Hills, Calif. / Chino Hills / Westmont College) also came alive with a trio of emphatic kills. The result? A 19-1 run that defined the rest of the match.
From there, the Poets, having established themselves as the better team, won the later sets by lesser margins but maintained a level of control throughout. Senior libero
Nadine Oronoz' (Whittier, Calif. / Southland Christian / Rio Hondo College) serve came alive late, and she finished with three service aces to go with her team-best 11 digs. Oronoz has once again established herself as one of the premier serving threats in the conference, trailing the SCIAC leader by just one. She also had a season-high 10 assists to earn a statistical double-double. Padilla similarly double-doubled, benefitting from being on the floor for the Poets' big runs early. She finished the match with a team-best 15 aces to go with 10 digs.
As for D'Amato, the sophomore had kills on more than half her total number of attacks, resulting in a sterling .421 hitting percentage to leaed the home team.
Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will look to make it consecutive wins when they travel to Caltech on Thursday, Oct. 9 for a 7 p.m. game.
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