CMS Volleyball Opens 2023 With Quick 3-0 Win over Carthage

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The third-ranked CMS women's volleyball team began its quest to win a national title on its home floor in convincing fashion, taking down Carthage 25-15, 25-11, 25-17 on Friday on the first day of the Pacific Coast Classic.

Jenna Holmes, the reigning Division III National Player of the Year, paced CMS with 12 kills, while Georgia McGovern had 30 assists and Dede Carranza had 18 digs in a three-setter. 

In the first set, Brooke McKee had three straight kills to help the Athenas get some separation with a 10-5 lead, before McGovern and Audrey Sawyer finished off a 6-0 run with the last two kills. Sawyer had the set-winning kill for a 25-15 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. 

The second set saw Carthage stay within 10-9 before the Athenas rattled off nine points in a row, capped off by a Kelsey Polhemus kill, as CMS went ahead 2-0 with a 25-11 win. The Athenas hit .545 as a team in the second set with 12 kills and no errors in 22 attempts. 

Polhemus, McKee and Holmes rattled off three straight kills in the third set to give CMS a 10-5 lead, and Holmes finished off the match with a kill for a 25-17 third set win.

CMS, which will host the NCAA Division III Championships this year from Nov. 30-Dec. 2, will be back in action tomorrow when it takes on No. 25 Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 12:45 p.m., and then closes out the tournament against Southwestern (Texas) at 5:30 p.m.