Athenas rally for comeback win over UC Santa Cruz

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team beat UC Santa Cruz 3-2 in tonight's match (23-25, 26-28, 25-16, 25-18, 18-16). The Athenas came back from a two set deficit to win the last three sets and the match.

With senior Hilary Bruegl back on the floor for CMS, the Athenas were prepared to take on the Banana Slugs who came into the match with a 15-3 record.

The first two sets were neck and neck and neither team pulled ahead of the other.  Outstanding play by senior L Jessica Peng helped UC Santa Cruz win the first two games over the Athenas.

In the third set, CMS jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and never looked back.  CMS easily won the set 25-16 to make the overall score 2-1 in favor of the Banana Slugs.

UC Santa Cruz fought back in the fourth set until the Athenas pulled away when the score was 17-11 and won the set 25-18 to tie up the match at two sets apiece.

In the fifth and final set, CMS fell behind 7-12 and then battled to a 14-14 tie.  Freshman Nicole Kerkhof scored the last three points on kills in the dramatic win for the Athenas.

Kerkhof and sophomore Audrey Breitwieser each had 29 kills while the Athenas amassed 72 overall.  In the five set battle, each Athena contributed to this thrilling team win.

Tomorrow CMS faces Kenyon at 12 pm and Susquehanna at 3:30 pm, both contests at home.

Box Score:  http://www.cmsathletics.org/sports/wvball/2013-14/boxscores/20131011_xw2i.xml

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