CMS Volleyball Cruises to Quick Three-Set Win over Redlands

CMS Volleyball Cruises to Quick Three-Set Win over Redlands

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team had a rare quick match as it coasted to a 3-0 win over Redlands on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Pavilion.

Set scores were 25-20, 25-11, 25-17 as the Athenas were able to finish off the win in 1:05 to improve to 11-2 on the year and 2-0 in the SCIAC. It was only the second three-setter of the year for CMS, which had won six of its previous 10 matches in the full five sets, including a 3-2 win over La Verne on Tuesday in its league opener. Redlands falls to 6-7 overall and 0-5 in conference play with the loss. 

Junior outside hitter Amanda Walker continued her breakout season with 15 kills in only 25 attempts, while recording a .440 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle Melanie Moore added nine kills in 17 attempts for a .471 percentage, to go along with a team-high five blocks, while junior setter Phoebe Madsen had 27 assists, nine digs and six kills and junior libero Sarah Trischler led the defense with 16 digs. 

For Walker, who was a part-time player last year as the Athenas won the national title, the big effort was just a continuation in what has been a personally rewarding season. 

"This season's been really rewarding; the team meshes really, really well," Walker said. "We've had so many five-set games that a three-set game today really gave us a nice break. I just think Phoebe and I really connected well today; we've been working on it a little bit in practice."

The first set was the only one that was in doubt, as Redlands was even with the Athenas at 16-16 before CMS was able to methodically pull away. Freshman Jackie Jones and Madsen had back-to-back kills to start a 3-0 run to give the Athenas a 19-16 lead. Sophomore Linden Conrad had a kill to stretch the lead to 22-18 and Jones followed with an ace to make it a five-point spread. Redlands won the next two points, but Walker had back-to-back kills off Madsen assists to finish off the opening set.



The second set saw CMS roar out to a 13-4 lead, capped off by a 5-0 run. Walker and Moore combined on two blocks to end the spurt, sandwiched around a kill from sophomore Lucila Grinspan. Walker had two kills and a block with Conrad to account for three straight points which stretched the lead to 21-8 and the Athenas took it 25-11. 

Redlands jumped ahead 10-7 in the third set to try to extend the match, but CMS responded with an 8-1 run to take a 15-11 lead. Walker had two service aces in the run, while Grinspan added another. The Bulldogs pulled back within 17-15, but Jones, sophomore Margot Mafra Spencer and Walker rattled off three straight kills to make it a 20-15 lead, and Moore finished off the match with a kill to make the final set 25-17. 

CMS is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Caltech for a 7 p.m. contest.