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CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team, ranked No. 5 in the AVCA preseason poll, looked the part of national championship contender with a pair of straight-set wins over Carroll and Dallas on the first day of the Pacific Coast Classic on Friday afternoon at Roberts Pavilion.
The Athenas took the first match over Carroll 25-9, 25-17, 25-20 behind a triple-double from senior setter/right side Phoebe Madsen, the reigning West Region Player of the Year, who had 15 kills, 16 assists and 10 digs in only three sets of action. CMS then came right back with a 25-13, 25-13, 25-12 win over Dallas, with senior libero Sarah Tritschler recording 19 digs and 11 assists for a double-double, while Madsen added seven kills, 12 assists and 13 digs.
CMS used a 14-0 run in the first set against Carroll to turn a 9-7 lead into a commanding 23-7 advantage. Madsen had five kills during the 14-point run, including three in a row during one stretch. She then moved back to setter and assisted senior outside hitter Amanda Walker on set point for a 25-9 win.
The second two sets were tighter, but CMS was still able to come away with 25-17 and 25-20 wins to complete the sweep. The second set was neck-and-neck most of the way through, before the Athenas used a 6-0 run to turn a 16-15 lead into a 22-15 advantage. First-year setter Spencer Hagenbuch had an ace during the stretch and added three of her 20 assists, on a way to a double-double (20 assists, 13 digs).
The third set saw CMS jump out to a quick 10-3 lead, and then hold off a rally from Carroll, which got as close as 22-20. Madsen, though, came through with back-to-back kills and then fed junior hitter Lucila Grinspan for match point and a 3-0 win.
The Dallas match saw plenty of Athenas get into the act as nine different players had multiple kills, while as a team, CMS had 40 kills on 90 attempts with only five errors for a .389 team hitting percentage. In the first set, the Athenas didn't have an error at all, hitting 16-of-31 for a whopping .516 percentage.
Madsen's seven kills led the team, followed closely by first-year outside hitter Izzy Sakoda and junior middle hitter Regan Dinovitz with six apiece. Sophomore outside hitter Melanie Williams and first-year outside hitter Sonia Bliss each had five kills (with Bliss tallying hers on only four attempts), while first-year outside hitter Summer Ellis had three kills, including the one on match point to seal it.
CMS will be back in action on the second day of the Pacific Coast Classic tomorrow when it takes on Augsburg at 11:30 a.m. and St. Olaf at 3;45 p.m. in the tournament finale.
To view full results from the Paciifc Coast Classic, co-hosted by Pomona-Pitzer, CMS and La Verne, visit the tournament home page.
