Athena Volleyball Moves to 15-0 With Sweep of Pomona-Pitzer

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team, ranked No. 2 in the nation, improved its record to 15-0 and solidified its hold on first place in the SCIAC with a 3-0 sweep of Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Pavilion.

The Athenas had to work for it, though, fighting off a set point in the first before hitting their groove, winning 28-26, 25-15, 25-14, moving to 8-0 in the SCIAC with all eight wins by 3-0 sweeps. Pomona-Pitzer came in one game behind CMS in the league standings and could have pulled even with an upset win, but slips to 6-2 in the league with the loss. 

Jackie Jones had her second straight strong effort for the Athenas, with nine kills in 13 attempts for a .615 hitting percentage, while Jenna Holmes matched her for the team lead in kills with nine. Georgia McGovern had 21 assists, and Dede Carranza had 19 digs.

The first set began as if it would be an Athena runaway, as CMS stormed out to a 10-1 lead behind two straight aces from Izzy Sakoda. The Sagehens answered, though, and got back to within 16-15. CMS looked like they would hold off the challenge, pulling ahead 23-20 on a Sakoda kill, but Pomona-Pitzer rattled off four points in a row to earn a set point at 24-23. 

Brenna Bell answered the challenge by tying the score up at 24-24, and the Athenas had two set points erased by Pomona-Pitzer at 25-24 and 26-25. Finally, though, CMS was able to finish off the set with a kill from Holmes and another from Melanie Williams. 

CMS used another big run in the second set to take a 17-5 lead, turning a 6-4 advantage into a 12-point lead with an 11-1 run, capped off Holmes recording two aces and a kill in the final four points of the run. The Sagehens closed a 22-9 gap down to 24-15, but Williams finished off her second set in a row with a kill. 

CMS again took control early in the third set, roaring out to an 8-0 lead behind three McGovern aces and three Jones kills. Pomona-Pitzer crept back within 16-11, but Jones had a kill and Emma Thompson had an ace in a 3-0 run that killed the momentum and sent CMS on its way to a 25-14 win and a 3-0 sweep. 

The Athenas came in leading the nation in hitting percentage at .333, but were held to .248 by Pomona-Pitzer, which had eight blocks. 

CMS will be back in action on Tuesday night, when it returns home to Roberts Pavilion to face La Verne for a 7 p.m. contest.