Madsen serves No. 2 Athenas to victory

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Freshman setter Phoebe Madsen (CMC) served for 14 consecutive points in the middle of the first set en route to the 3-1 victory over Whittier (25-7, 25-15, 19-25, 25-12). The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team is ranked No. 2 nationally by the AVCA and improves to 14-0 on the season, 5-0 in conference play.

Madsen stole the show with her serves in the first set while the Poets struggled to make clean passes and organize their offense. CMS only committed one error in the set and hit for .550. Junior libero Mikena Werner (SCR) made all but four digs in the set, ultimately ending up with 28 in the match.

Through the first two sets, junior Margaux Arntson (CMC) and senior Nicole Kerkhof (CMC) were errorless with 15 kills combined.

Whittier rallied in the second set but the Athenas' middles including junior Mariah Rigg (CMC) kept them off balance enough for CMS to take the 2-0 advantage going into the third game.

A slow start forecasted the difficulties CMS would have for the entirety of the third. The Poets made 14 kills, led by Rebecca Slattery at seven. Slattery leads the team and averages 3.40 kills per set. CMS could not come back from the initial deficit and lost the set 25-19, only the second set lost in five conference matches and just the sixth in the whole season.

The Athenas came back with renewed life to take the final set 25-12. Rigg maintained her streak and finished the match with 8 kills and a hitting percentage of .571. Near the end of the match, Phoebe Madsen looked as if she could serve out the final points. With one Whittier kill mixed in, the Athenas ended the set with a 7-to-1 run.

Next up for CMS is a pair of away games. They travel to Redlands (10-6, 2-5 SCIAC) on Tuesday, Oct. 4 and then across the street for the first matchup against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m.

Box Score

By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director

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