WHITTIER, Calif. (Nov. 5, 2024) – Freshman
Malena The (Chino Hills, Calif. / Chino Hills / Westmont College) of the Whittier College women's volleyball team lifted her side with 11 kills at Chapman University on Tuesday night, helping the Poets complete the season sweep of the Panthers.
Tuesday's win brings the Poets to 18 on the year, marking the third time the Poets have hit 18 wins under Head Coach
Chris Duarte-McDermott. The tenured head coach's winningest season came in 2015 when the Poets won 19 games. They will have an opportunity to tie and exceed that total in the coming days.
As it pertains to Tuesday, the Poets couldn't have done it without their top freshman. Whittier needed to overcome a first-frame setback, which ended up being a grinding war of attrition. The Panthers, after all, have performed best when able to extend points. However, Whittier upped the offensive output in the final three sets, and The had plenty to do with it. She entered the game in the second set and turned heads with nine of her 11 kills in the ensuing frames. It's no coincidence the Poets got better, and more efficient as the match wore on. By the third set, Whittier showed it could beat Chapman decisively, and a 25-8 closing set matched the final set score from the Caltech match last week.
The also had 14 digs, resulting in her fifth double-double of the season out of seven times reaching double-digit digs. Defensively, the Poets had plenty to fall back on, as The was actually one of four Poets to reach double-digit digs on Tuesday. Senior libero
Nadine Oronoz (Whittier, Calif. / Southland Christian / Rio Hondo College) led with 19, while classmates
Riley DeGroot (Ontario, Calif. / Ontario Christian / Mt. San Antonio College) and
Morgan Lin (Glendora, Calif. / Glendora) had 15 and 10 respectively. Lin also led all Poets with 18 assists.
As great as The's individual performance was, another equally important story for the Poets came on their serve. The visitors combined for a whopping 13 service aces, more than half of a winning set's won points. Oronoz led all Poets with four, vaulting her up to first in the conference with 54 total service aces. Lin, meanwhile, had three, The had two, and sophomore
Mia D'Amato (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces) had two.
Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will host California Lutheran University in the penultimate game of the season on Friday at 7 p.m.
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