Athenas Volleyball Clinches Post-Season Berth With Eighth Consecutive Victory

At 9:30 on Tuesday evening the Athenas finally were able to celebrate an important accomplishment for the volleyball program, a post-season appearance in the 2011 SCIAC Tournament after defeating the Whittier College Poets 3-1. The win guaranteed that the Athenas would place 2nd or 3rd in conference and face Occidental College, who they close the regular season against next Tuesday, in the semifinals of SCIAC at California Lutheran University on Thursday November 3. The Athenas currently are on an eight match winning streak after last night's victory. Whittier College has been on a tear of its own lately, defeating both La Verne and Occidental College. The match was highly anticipated, and certainly did not disappoint.

Taking a lead late into the first game, the Athenas could not put the Poets away as Whittier rallied and took a 24-20 lead. After a timeout, the Athenas responded, tying the game at 24-24 before falling 24-26. This would be the last time the Athenas failed to win the game. Falling behind early in the remaining games, they continued to fight and rally around each other to earn three hard fought wins to clinch the match and post-season. In game two, the team generated enough distance between themselves and the Poets in the middle points of the match to withstand what appeared to be a Whittier rally before winning 25-19. Game three would be the turning point in the match as both teams built leads on each other before the Athenas buckled down and responded to both the Poets play as well as their several hundred faithful who were attempting to will Whittier to the victory, earning the 25-22 game three victory.

One game stood between the Athenas and the post-season, and at first it appeared that the celebration may have had to wait as the team fell behind early 5-1. In the Whittier match, as well as last week's against La Verne, they Athenas frequently encountered early deficits of five or six points before finding a way to fight back in and take the game. Game four would be no different, as they proceeded to go on a 15-3 to separate themselves further from the Poets. A 25-13 victory in game four allowed silenced the Whittier crowd and brought rousing cheers from the CMS fan base that had made the trip out to watch the match. 

Leading the way offensively for the Athenas were Regina Mullen and Courtney Searls who contributed 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Defensively, Megan Coleman was one of four Athenas with double-digit digs, acquiring 20. Taylor Jones was responsible for 44 assists on the night.

The Poets were led by Alyssa Sialaris and Alayna Rigo who scored 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Their high dig total was 12 by Malie Valdivieso. Alessandra Rios contributed 34 assists to her team's effort.

Currently the team stands at 18-8 (9-3 in SCIAC) and are tied with Occidental for 2nd place. The team now will attempt to bring home a 20 win regular season.

The Athenas return to action this Friday October 28th at Caltech before returning home next Tuesday November 1 to face Occidental College, who the Athenas defeated on the road 3-1 earlier this season. The Occidental match will feature a recognition of the team's lone senior Emily Hudson and her four year career at CMS.

The SCIAC post-season tournament will take place Thursday Nov. 3 and Saturday Nov. 5. The semi-finals will be hosted by Cal Lu. Should Cal Lu be eliminated on day one, the finals will be hosted by the highest remaining seed. Of note is that the Athenas are currently 8-3 in matches at home and 5-1 in road contests, a testament to their ability to win both at home and in adverse environments.

Congratulations to the Athenas on this accomplishment, and good luck as the post-season begins.