CMS Volleyball Picks up Pair of Straight-Set Wins on First Day of Cal Lutheran Tourney

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The fourth-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team took 3-0 wins over both the University of Chicago and the University of Texas-Dallas on the first day of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational on Friday.

The wins improve the Athenas' record to 6-2 on the season, setting up a big battle with No. 1 Juniata tomorrow on the second day of the Cal Lutheran tournament. Set scores were 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 in the morning match with Chicago, and then 25-11, 25-16 and 25-13 in the afternoon match with Texas-Dallas.

Jenna Holmes led CMS with 14 kills and 11 digs in the Chicago win, while Dani Beder hit .500 with nine kills in 14 attempts (with two errors). Georgia McGovern added 34 assists, while Dede Carranza and Isabel Yau-Weeks each had 10 digs. 

CMS followed with a dominant win over UT-Dallas, with Brenna Bell leading the way with 11 kills in 16 attempts, hitting .563, while Holmes had her second straight double-figure effort with 10 kills in 22 attempts. Beder was efficient again with four kills in seven attempts, while McGovern had five kills in seven attempts to go with 32 more assists and 11 digs, tying Carranza for team-high honors. 

The first set against Chicago was tied 15-15, but a 4-0 CMS run helped create separation and Beder sandwiched two kills around one from Holmes for the final three Athena points of the set. The third set saw another 4-0 run at almost the same point of the set, as CMS stretched a 16-15 lead to 20-15 behind two kills from Brooke McKee, a Yau-Weeks ace, and a block from Kelsey Polhemus and McGovern.  

CMS will face Juniata at 4 p.m. tomorrow, hoping to knock off the No. 1 team (and defending national champions) and finish the tournament 3-0.