CMS Volleyball Sweeps Pomona-Pitzer to Take First Sixth Street Rivalry Match of 2019

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior setter/right side hitter Phoebe Madsen was one kill shy of a triple-double without an error for the second match in a row as the No. 7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team took a 25-20, 25-23, 25-19 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Friday evening at Voelkel Gymnasium.

Madsen finished with nine kills in 23 attempts with no errors, to go along with 18 assists and 13 digs as CMS improves its record to 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the SCIAC at the midway point of the conference schedule. Pomona-Pitzer falls to 9-9 overall and 3-5 in league play with the defeat. 

Senior Amanda Walker had a team-high 11 kills for CMS, while junior Lucila Grinspan had eight. Senior libero Sarah Tritschler had 17 digs and chipped in with seven assists, while first-year setter Spencer Hagenbuch had 16 assists. 



The Athenas got a tough test from a Pomona-Pitzer team determined to defend its home floor. CMS jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but the Sagehens responded to go ahead 9-6. The Athenas were still clinging to a 20-19 lead late in the set when a timely 4-0 run gave them some separation. Madsen and Grinspan had back-to-back kills, and an ace from junior middle Melanie Moore made it 23-19. After a Walker kill made it 24-19, the Sagehens fought off one set point, but hit a ball out on the ensuing point to end the set with CMS on top 25-20. 

The second set saw CMS have to play from behind most of the way. Pomona-Pitzer held three-point leads on six different occasions, the last coming at 18-15 before CMS rattled off five points in a row to take the lead. Once again Grinspan and Madsen started the run with kills and an ace from Moore capped it off with an ace to put CMS ahead 20-18. Dinovitz and Walker then combined on a key block to give CMS a 24-22 lead, and after Isabel Kelly had a kill for the Sagehens to bring the score within 24-23, Moore came through with a clutch kill to wrap up the second set 25-23 and give CMS all the momentum with a 2-0 lead. 

Pomona-Pitzer stayed within 15-13 in the third set, before CMS had another timely 5-0 run to help put the match away. Walker had two kills during the stretch, first-year Sonia Bliss had one, and Tritschler capped it off with an ace. Madsen had her eighth and ninth kills to make it 24-17 and had a swing for a triple-double dug out by Pomona-Pitzer's back line, before Grinspan ended the match with her eighth kill. 

CMS had a .240 hitting percentage as a team for the match, while holding the Sagehens to just .133. Walker and Dinovitz each had four blocks to help contribute to the 18 errors that Pomona-Pitzer had on the evening. 

The win was the third straight sweep for CMS since suffering its only conference loss at Chapman last Tuesday, when the Panthers came back from down 2-0 to defeat the Athenas in five. Tritschler said that the team's focus since that loss has been less about tactics, and more about creating the right mindset for the stretch run of the regular season.  

"The biggest thing that we've been working on is our team chemistry," Tritschler said. "We've had a bunch of team talks about supporting each other and staying positive, because I think that's been our biggest issue ... We know how good we can be, but we just have to be mentally prepared to be that good."

CMS will return to action next week for three big SCIAC matches, a home battle with Cal Lutheran on Tuesday, a trip to Whittier on Friday, and a rematch at home with Chapman on Saturday.