CMS Volleyball Dominates in SCIAC-Opening Win over Whittier
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Whittier (2-9, 0-1 SCIAC) | 19 | 15 | 20 | 0 |
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Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-0, 1-0 SCIAC) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
CLAREMONT, Calif. - In its first action since defeating the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams on the same day, the second-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team controlled play throughout as it captured a 3-0 win over Whittier on Tuesday afternoon in its SCIAC opener.
Set scores were 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 as CMS improves to 8-0 overall on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while Whittier slips to 2-9 overall and 0-1 in the league.
CMS defeated both No. 1 Trinity and No. 2 Emory on Saturday, Sept. 11 at the East-West Battle, hosted by Cal Lutheran, and moved up from No. 6 to No. 2 in the country. They had 10 days off after the historic 1-2 double, but they didn't look rusty, as the Athenas hit an efficient .361 on the evening with 45 kills in 97 attempts and only 10 errors. Middle hitter Audrey Sawyer led the way with 10 kills in 16 attempts for a .625 hitting percentage, while Melanie Williams had six kills in nine attempts.
It took a while for CMS to shake the Poets in the first set, as Whittier pulled even at 14-14 before a kill from Jenna Holmes started a 3-0 run. The Poets were within 22-19, before Jackie Jones and Holmes had back-to-back kills to bring it to set point, which CMS won a Whittier error.
The second set saw CMS take control early with a 9-0 run to pull ahead 10-3. Holmes and Sawyer each had two kills during the run, while Makenna Fall added a service ace. Sawyer capped off the set with a kill for a 25-15 win and a 2-0 lead.
The Poets hung tougn in the third set, pulling even at 16-16 after two Katelyn Popoff kills, but the Athenas pulled away down the stretch and secured the win on a Summer Ellis kill to make the final set 25-20.
Georgia McGovern had 23 assists and Spencer Hagenbuch had 17 for the Athenas to pace the offense, while Fall had 13 digs to lead the defense, and Izzy Sakoda added eight in two sets.
CMS will be back in action for two more SCIAC matches this weekend, traveling to La Verne on Friday night and then facing Cal Lutheran at home on Saturday at 6 p.m.