CMS Volleyball Earns Another SCIAC Sweep, Topples Chapman in Three

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Brenna Bell (11 kills) and Izzy Sakoda (10 kills) led a balanced offense, and Dede Carranza (5) and Audrey Sawyer (4) combined for nine of the 13 CMS service aces as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team remained undefeated and unblemished in SCIAC with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-18 win over Chapman on Tuesday evening at Roberts Pavilion.

With the win, CMS now stands at 16-0 on the year and 6-0 in conference, with all six league wins coming by 3-0 scores. In fact, CMS has still only dropped three sets all year, one apiece in 3-1 wins over Trinity, Emory and Colorado College. Chapman, which took CMS to five sets twice last year, including in the SCIAC Championship, slips to 4-10 overall and 2-5 in SCIAC. 

Sakoda hit .471 (10-2-17), while Summer Ellis hit .462 (7-1-13) and Sawyer hit .412 (7-0-17). Kelsey Polhemus, Sakoda and Sawyer each had three block assists, and Georgia McGovern (21) and Spencer Hagenbuch (15) combined for 36 assists. 

CMS had its toughest battle in the second set, as Chapman kept it within 19-17. However, Ellis had two straight kills, and Sakoda had one to make it 23-19. After Chapman closed within 23-20, Bell had a kill, and Sawyer combined on a block with Brooke McKee to close out the set. 

Carranza helped get CMS separation early in the third set with three straight service aces to put CMS ahead 7-2. Chapman battled back to within 13-11, but Bell had two kills around a Sakoda ace to stretch it to 16-11. A 4-0 CMS run, with two kills and a block from Sawyer, made it a 22-14 lead, and Sakoda capped off the match with her 10th kill to give the Athenas the win. 

CMS will be back in action on Friday for a road match against Caltech, before hosting Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 4 p.m.