WHITTIER, Calif. – For the first time in program history, Whittier College hosted a SCIAC women's volleyball tournament match. The second-seeded Poets fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Thursday night's semifinal, 25-23, 25-21, 25-19.
Malena Thé served back-to-back aces to give Whittier an early 4-2 lead in the opening set. CMS later broke an 11-11 tie with five straight points, but the Poets erased a 21-17 deficit with a five-point run of their own.
Thé and D'Amato capped the run with consecutive kills to put Whittier ahead 22-21. Thé added another kill for a 23-22 lead before the Athenas took the final three points.
Whittier put together its longest run of the night in the second set, scoring seven straight points to turn a 12-6 deficit into a 13-12 lead.
D'Amato and Thé each had two kills during the run, with
Alyssa Gonzalez serving for the last six points.
Morgan Kinser's kill tied the set at 19, but CMS won six of the final eight points to take a two-set lead.
In the third,
Lola Padilla and D'Amato teamed up for a block that brought Whittier within one at 13-12.
CMS stretched its lead to 19-14 before a Padilla kill and a CMS attack error cut it to 19-16. The Athenas pulled away from there, taking the third set 25-19 to secure the match.
D'Amato hit .375 and added two block assists to her team-high 10 kills.
Madison McPherson recorded eight kills, 14 assists, eight digs and three block assists.
Hailey Church led the Poets with 16 assists, while Gonzalez paced the defense with 15 digs and Thé added 14.
In a historic season, Whittier moved to 23-7 overall while earning two program records. The Poets obtained the most wins and the highest regional ranking in program history.
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