LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Whittier College women's volleyball closed the regular season in commanding fashion on Saturday, sweeping Occidental 25-9, 25-13, 25-9 at Rush Gymnasium. The Poets finished the regular season 23-6 overall and 11-2 in SCIAC play, securing the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament while standing first in NCAA Region X.
Occidental scored the opening point, but Whittier quickly took control with eight unanswered points. Malena Thé served two aces during the run, while
Mia D'Amato contributed a kill, a solo block and a combined block with
Mia Rogers to help build an 8-1 lead.
Rogers continued to fuel the offense, recording four kills as Whittier stretched its advantage to 11-2.
Morgan Kinser added a pair of kills, and
Lola Padilla delivered an ace to help push the margin to 15-4.
D'Amato anchored the Poets at the net as the set continued, finishing the opening frame with eight blocks. Whittier held Occidental to single digits before Padilla put away consecutive kills to close the set 25-9.
The second set was tied at 2-2 before Whittier began to pull away. Kills from Kinser and
Madison McPherson helped the Poets take an 8-3 lead. With Padilla serving, Whittier strung together five consecutive points to extend the margin to 13-5, highlighted by a Padilla ace and kills from Kinser, McPherson and Thé.
Another five-point run widened the lead to 18-7.
Alyssa Gonzalez contributed an ace during the stretch, and Thé added a kill as Whittier maintained control. D'Amato and Rogers supplied late kills before Kinser finished the frame at 25-13.
Whittier carried that momentum into the third, scoring the first three points and racing to a 9-1 advantage. D'Amato recorded three early kills, while McPherson and Thé each served an ace.
The Poets continued to spread the offense, with Rogers, Kinser, Padilla and Thé all contributing kills as the lead grew to 20-6. D'Amato put away three more kills down the stretch, and Padilla delivered the final point to seal the 25-9 set win and the sweep.
D'Amato led Whittier with nine kills on .529 hitting, eight blocks and eight digs. Rogers and Thé each added eight kills, while Kinser and Padilla finished with seven apiece. Thé also recorded 14 digs and three aces.
Gonzalez led the back row with 24 digs. McPherson finished with 19 assists and 13 digs, while
Hailey Church added 12 assists and eight digs. The Poets held Occidental to a negative hitting percentage (-.015) and finished with nine team blocks.
Second-seeded Whittier will host third-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the SCIAC Tournament Second Round at 7 p.m. in the Graham Athletic Center. Purchase tickets in advance
here or watch live on
FloCollege.
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