CLAREMONT, Calif. (Aug. 28, 2025) – Sophomore outside hitter
Malena The (Chino Hills, Calif. / Chino Hills / Westmont College) of the Whittier College women's volleyball team, along with the Poets' talented trio of hitters on the outside keyed a 2-0 start to the season at the Pacific Coast Classic on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
Game 1: Whittier 3, No. 25 Case Western Reserve 0
While it may typical for even great teams to have rust to shake off in a season's opening moments, the Poets wasted no time in making their mark against a ranked Case Western Reserve University team. Led by 15 kills from Thé, Whittier blanked the Cleveland-based school over three competitive sets. Thé established herself as part of a three-headed monster at outside hitter for the Poets her freshman season, and if Friday's season opener was any indication, Whittier will once again have a competitive rotation on the outside. Senior Sofia Zazueta (La Mirada, Calif. / Orange Lutheran) and freshman Lola Padilla (Fontana, Calif. / St. Lucy's) added double-digit kills of their own rotating with Thé. In all, 38 of the Poets' 50 kills came from the outside, and Thé's .308 hitting percentage led all players.
Zazueta proved to be another capable star for the Poets. She not only had 13 kills, but involved herself defensively with 15 digs, and on serve with a trio of service aces to lead the team. The senior had a particularly nice run at the end of the third set, where her serve accounted for five of the final six points of the match. All three Whittier outside hitters accounted for kills during this stretch, and while the Poets stumbled with a chance to close the match the winner of eight of the final nine points, they recovered nicely on match point. Freshman Morgan Kinser (Beaumont, Calif. / Beaumont) secured the win off a nice set from primary setter Sophia Padilla (Fontana, Calif. / St. Lucy's).
Game 2: Whittier 3, Lake Forest College 0
Whittier did well to avoid a let down in the second game of Friday's showcase, beating Lake Forest College in a more lopsided three-set win. However, unlike the first game where the Poets had to lean on offensive efficiency to get over the finish line, the latter game saw the team capitalize on Lake Forest's inability to sustain long rallies. Whittier accounted for only a collective 42 digs across the board, but sophomore libero Alyssa Gonzalez reached double-digit digs for the second game in a row and gave the Poets a strong defensive presence to fall back on.
Speaking of double-digits, Thé reached double-digit kills for a second game in a row, and for the weekend hit a sterling .333. The Foresters had little answers for Thé just as they had little answers for the Poets' serve. The Purple & Gold totaled 10 service aces in the afternoon game: three from Gonzalez, two from Thé, three from freshman setter Hailey Church, and two from sophomore Jeslyn Crockett. In a light afternoon for Poets middle blockers, junior Mia D'Amato still managed six kills as the Poets closed the show with a convincing 25-17, 25-11, 25-11 set score.
Head Coach Chris Duarte-McDermott and the Poets will ready themselves for their own tournament, the Whittier College Invitational. A total of 16 matches will take place in the Graham Athletic Center over Friday Sept. 5 and Saturday Sept. 6 with the Poets set to play four times.
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