CLAREMONT, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2025) – The Whittier College volleyball team returned to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament for the third consecutive season, returning to second-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and eventually coming up short in the SCIAC semifinal rubber match.
Head Coach
Chris Duarte-McDermott's Poets took on the Athenas one week after sweeping them at home for the second time in the last three years. Thursday night's match took on a similar complexion as the one in Whittier just nine days prior, with both teams taking each other to the limit in a marathon first set. Last week saw the Poets come out on top 33-31 before cruising in sets two and three. This time, the Athenas would stake their claim as the first set victors, winning the opening frame 31-29 before wearing the Poets down in the second and third frames.
Both teams saw improved success at the net well above their season averages as the Poets won nine total points by way of blocks. The Poets got a head of steam early by giving senior
Maia Cicero (San Bernardino, Calif. / Aquinas) the starting nod in the middle, and the senior was able to successfully stymie the Athenas early, giving the Poets a different edge from the home rematch nine days prior. Cicero's early dominance at the net allowed junior middle
Mia D'Amato (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces Memorial), a First Team All-SCIAC selection, to also perform at the net. Both players would each go on to combine on five blocks.
Seven different players would register kills, with five of those seven managing at least six kills. Senior Sofia Zazueta (La Mirada, Calif. Orange Lutheran) helped set the tone early with six kills in the first two sets without committing an error. Sophomore outside hitter Jesslyn Crockett (Las Vegas, Nev. / Centennial) came into the game for Zazueta midway through the second set and responded with seven kills without an error, causing both players to combine for an errorless 13-kill night to the tune of a .433 hitting percentage.
Another nice moment for the Poets came in the form of senior setter Sophia Padilla exceeding 1,000 assists for her career in the final match she will play for the Purple & Gold. She had 15 assists against the Athenas, and finishes her career with 1,006, following in the footsteps of recent Whittier setters like Della Trimble '23 and Morgan Lin '25.
Thursday's semifinal match is also notable for being the best the Poets have played at Roberts Pavilion in Claremont since 2018 when they took a set off the Athenas. In that sense, this season marks an important step forward for the program that has now finished third in the SCIAC regular season standings in back-to-back seasons. They are set to return the lion's share of this year's core players and could see another step towards the top of the SCIAC in 2026.
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