WHITTIER, Calif. – The Poets' first of two matches on Saturday was at home in the Graham Athletic Center. Whittier played host to the Chapman Panthers in a non-conference contest, where the Poets won in straight sets, 3-0. The Purple and Gold edged out a tight first set, 27-25, before cruising through the next two, 25-16 and 25-13.
Chapman jumped ahead 6-2 in the first set as Whittier gradually worked its way back. The Poets stayed within striking distance and eventually tied the set at 12-12 on a block from Malena Thé and Morgan Kinser. The Panthers regained the advantage and extended it to 18-15.
Whittier faced a two-point deficit at 21-19 before the Poets chipped away. A kill from Thé, followed by kills from Madison McPherson and Kinser, gave Whittier a late 22-21 advantage. Chapman answered to even the score at 22.
Mia Rogers delivered a kill and followed it with a block to push her team ahead 24-22. The Panthers fought off set point and sent the opening frame beyond 25 by tying it at 24-24.
In crunch time, Rogers repeatedly came through, recording kills to put the Poets ahead 25-24 and 26-25. Mia D'Amato scored the final point, and Whittier took set one, 27-25.
The two teams traded points to begin the second set and were knotted at 4-4. The Poets broke away with three straight points to go up 7-4, highlighted by a kill from Kinser and a block from Kinser and Lola Padilla. An ace from Alyssa Gonzalez later gave Whittier a four-point cushion at 10-6.
The Panthers trimmed the margin to 12-11, but the Poets responded. Padilla, D'Amato and Thé recorded consecutive kills to push the advantage back to four points, 15-11. Whittier took control from there, stretching its lead to 19-12.
The Poets continued to pull away and extended the margin to 22-14. Kinser later put down a kill, and a Rogers-D'Amato block closed out the set, 25-16, giving Whittier a 2-0 match advantage.
Whittier came out firing as it carried its momentum from the second into the third set. Jeslyn Crockett and D'Amato each had two kills during the opening stretch as the Poets raced out to a 7-1 advantage.
Thé and Padilla added kills to maintain Whittier's separation at 11-5. After Chapman made it 11-6, the Poets went on a five-point run to take command at 16-6. Padilla had a kill during the run and teamed up with D'Amato for a block. D'Amato continued her strong set with another kill before McPherson backed her up with one of her own.
With Whittier ahead 18-9, the Poets rattled off five consecutive points to stretch the margin to 23-9. Thé recorded two kills during the run and teamed up with Kinser for a block.
Thé gave Whittier match point at 24-10, but the Panthers delayed the inevitable. Rogers eventually finished the match with a kill to secure the set, 25-13, and complete the sweep.
Whittier's offense was led by Thé, who had 11 kills on a .259 hitting percentage, while D'Amato finished with 10 kills and hit .409.
On the defensive side, Thé recorded 14 digs and two block assists, giving her another double-double. D'Amato and Kinser each added four block assists, while the Poets' steady libero Alyssa Gonzalez had a team-high 17 digs.
Whittier improved to 11-4 overall and will look to remain perfect in SCIAC play as the Poets resume conference action against the Caltech Beavers later this afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Graham Athletic Center.
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