Athenas Grind Out Road Sweep of Whittier

WHITTIER, Calif. - The No. 7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team took to the road on Friday night and spoiled the Whittier Poets' senior night with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-23) victory. Seven different Athenas collected at least three kills in the match with Crystal Anderson (CMC) leading the way with nine kills.

Mikena Werner (SC) collected 12 digs and Clara Madsen (CMC) finished with a team-high 18 assists on the night.

It was not the most impressive victory of the season, but the Athenas gutted out the win. CMS only swung at a .180 clip in the match, but had enough in the tank to collect their 14th SCIAC victory of the season.

The opening set on Friday night was tight throughout, but CMS did hold a slim lead for the majority of the set. The Athenas opened up an early 3-1 lead, but the Poets climbed back and held leads 8-7 and 11-10 before CMS went on a 5-1 run to take the lead back at 15-12. Following a three-point run for Whittier later in the set the score was level at 17-17.

With CMS clinging to a 20-19 lead, Amanda Walker (SC) connected on a kill to start a 3-0 run that gave the Athenas their largest lead of the set at 23-19. Four points later, Regan Dinovitz (CMC) ended the set with a kill and the Athenas took the tight opening set 25-21.

Whittier held control of play in the beginning of the second set, leading 7-4, but the Athenas turned the tables with an 11-2 run to take control of the game at 15-9. The run was fueled by Margaux Arntson (CMC) and Isabelle Taylor (CMC), who combined for four kills and an ace.

Later in the set, Whittier closed the gap to as few as three points at 19-16, but a 6-2 CMS run ended the set and gave the Athenas a 2-0 lead in the match. During the set's final run, Amanda Walker connected for two kills.

Just as the match had been all night, the third set was tight throughout. Outside of a four-point stretch early in the set, the game was within three points for the entire set. CMS did not give up the lead throughout the set, but Whittier did manage to tie the game on three occasions. With CMS holding a 22-19 lead late in the set, Whittier rattled off four of the next five points to tie the set at 23-23. CMS called a timeout to regroup.

Following the timeout, Whittier committed an error and Shelbi Stein ended the match with a kill to complete the 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-23) sweep.

The Athenas will wrap up the regular season tomorrow night with a home match against Cal Lutheran at 6:00 p.m.