WHITTIER, Calif. – The Poets returned to SCIAC play and took down the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas in a five-set battle. The two teams split the first four sets before Whittier captured the decisive fifth frame to secure the victory.
CMS scored the first three points of the opening set before extending its advantage to 8-1. The Athenas maintained their momentum and pushed the score to 11-2.
Morgan Kinser and Lola Padilla helped the Poets get their offense going with kills, but CMS continued to control the first set, building a 17-6 lead.
Whittier put together a late rally, highlighted by a block from Malena Thé and Mia D'Amato. Thé followed with a kill to cut the deficit to 17-9.
The Poets battled back to 23-17, but the Athenas held firm and took the opening frame 25-18.
Whittier responded in dominant fashion, turning an early 1-0 second-set deficit into a 6-1 advantage. Madison McPherson recorded two kills, while Jeslyn Crockett contributed two service aces during the five-point run.
Thé, McPherson and Mia Rogers continued to apply pressure with kills, increasing the Poets' cushion to 12-6.
Leading 14-9, Whittier erupted for six consecutive points behind Isabel Wold's serving. The stretch featured two service aces, kills from McPherson and Thé, and a block from McPherson and Kinser to make it 20-9.
The Poets finished the set with four unanswered points, including a block from Padilla and Kinser, to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-12 victory.
The teams traded points early in the third set before CMS created separation with a four-point run to move ahead 12-7. Whittier answered with three kills from D'Amato during a 4-0 stretch, cutting the deficit to 12-11.
Both sides continued to exchange points throughout the middle of the set, with contributions from Thé, Kinser and Padilla keeping the Poets within striking distance at 17-17.
CMS responded with five straight points to establish a 22-17 lead. McPherson recorded a kill, and Padilla added a service ace to bring Whittier within three, but the Athenas held on for a 25-21 win.
Trailing two sets to one, Whittier opened the fourth with an offensive surge. Thé contributed three kills, while Padilla delivered back-to-back kills to give the Poets a 9-6 advantage.
With the score at 10-9, Padilla recorded another kill and followed it with a service ace. D'Amato and McPherson later added kills to extend Whittier's lead to 15-10.
The Poets continued to build their advantage behind contributions from Kinser, Rogers and Padilla, moving ahead 23-17.
A late push from the Athenas narrowed the gap to 23-21. However, a CMS attack error and a kill from Rogers secured the set 25-21, forcing a decisive fifth frame.
The final set began with the teams tied at 2-2, but Whittier took control with six consecutive points to establish an 8-2 lead. A service ace from Padilla, two kills from Thé and another from McPherson fueled the run.
After the Athenas trimmed the deficit to 8-4, D'Amato and McPherson helped the Poets maintain their momentum with kills, extending the advantage to 12-5.
Padilla added two more kills down the stretch, including the match-winning point, as Whittier claimed the fifth set 15-9 to complete the 3-2 comeback victory over CMS.
McPherson recorded another triple-double with 13 kills, 19 assists and 12 digs.
Thé led the offense with 14 kills and 11 digs for a double-double, while Rogers contributed eight kills and a .313 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Crockett tallied 16 digs, while Alyssa Gonzalez added 14. Kinser also registered seven block assists.
Whittier improved to 18-4 overall and remained undefeated in SCIAC play at 8-0. The Poets will travel to La Verne on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to take on the Leopards at 7 p.m. Catch all the action on FloCollege.
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