Jenna Holmes had two double-doubles on opening day
Jenna Holmes had two double-doubles on opening day

Second-Ranked CMS Volleyball Sweeps UC Santa Cruz, Babson on Opening Day



CLAREMONT, Calif. - The second-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team fought off an early challenge in its opening match, and then turned it up to another level as it roared to sweeps of UC Santa Cruz and Babson on opening day of the Pacific Coast Classic on Friday at Roberts Pavilion.

The Athenas took the opening match over UC Santa Cruz 25-18, 25-23, 25-13 and then came back in the evening for a dominant 25-11, 25-11, 25-17 win over Babson to move to 2-0. Babson had just played in the previous match, and came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Cal Lutheran 3-2 (17-15 in the fifth), but weren't able to carry the momentum over against the Athenas. 

Returning All-American Jenna Holmes had a pair of double-doubles on the day, tallying 12 kills (in 25 attempts) and 10 digs in the UC Santa Cruz match, and then adding 10 kills (in 25 attempts) and 11 digs in the win over Babson. 

UC Santa Cruz put up a solid fight in the first match, keeping the score within 16-15 before the Athenas had four points in a row, starting with a Summer Ellis kill and ending with a Georgia McGovern ace. Jackie Jones had an ace and Jenna Holmes a kill to make it 23-17, and after UC Santa Cruz got one point back, Brenna Bell and Holmes finished off the set with two straight kills. 

The most dramatic set of the day was the second one as the Banana Slugs had two straight points to tie it 23-23 and put themselves in position to level the match. Holmes stopped the run with a big kills, and a UC Santa Cruz attack sailed out to finish off the 25-23 win. 

CMS then went on a big run in the third set to run away with the sweep, turning a 14-11 lead into a 23-12 advantage. Bell had two kills in a 4-0 run to make it 18-11, and after UC Santa Cruz got one point back, Holmes had two kills in a 5-0 run to stretch the lead to 11. Ellis then had kills for the final two points to finish off the win. 

Jackie Jones joined Holmes in double figures in kills with 10, while Dede Carranza had 18 digs. Georgia McGovern had 24 assists, and Sawyer led the defense with four blocks. 

The nightcap was never really competitive, as CMS jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first set, and then built it up to 20-8. The second set saw the Athenas build leads of 13-5 and 20-7 on their way to their second straight 25-11 win. Babson put up a stronger fight in the third and was within 15-13, before a 5-0 run from CMS sent the Athenas on to a sweep. 

CMS will be back in action tomorrow for back-to-back games on the second day of the Pacific Coast Classic, facing No. 7 NYU at 1:30 in a battle of top-10 teams, and then closing out with a 3:45 match against Millikin.