CMS Volleyball Hosts SCIAC Semifinal Match against Whittier Thursday Night

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team will be the top seed in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament this weekend, and will open up play against Whittier in the semifinal round on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Tickets are free for SCIAC students, faculty and staff with institutional ID, while general admission tickets are $10 at the door or $8 in advance through Ticketleap at the following link:

SCIAC Semifinal Tickets

In addition to the SCIAC Tournament, Roberts Pavilion will also be the host site for the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championship, which will be held from Nov. 29-Dec. 2. NCAA Regionals will take place next weekend at eight sites around the country, with the eight winners advancing to play in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Roberts Pavilion. 

The Athenas finished 14-2 in conference play to capture their eighth regular season SCIAC title in a row, as well as their sixth straight outright title. CMS is 133-11 in league play since 2014, and had a streak of 59 straight SCIAC wins snapped by La Verne this season. 

Whittier also handed the Athenas one of their two league losses, winning the second meeting to earn a split, and CMS will need to avenge that defeat to advance through to the championship match, will be held on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the site of the highest remaining seed. Second-seed La Verne and third-seeded Pomona-Pitzer meet in the other SCIAC Semifinal on Thursday. 

CMS has won the last five SCIAC Tournaments in a row, with last year's win coming over Pomona-Pitzer in the championship. The Athenas defeated Cal Lutheran in 2017 and 2018, and Chapman in 2019 and 2021, with the 2020 season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The SCIAC announced its postseason awards on Tuesday, and the Athenas had five players honored, including libero Dede Carranza, who repeated as the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year. She was joined on the All-SCIAC first team by Jenna Holmes, Georgia McGovern and Audrey Sawyer, while Brenna Bell was named to the second team. 

McGovern enters the postseason with 937 assists this season and could become the second player in program history to reach 1000 in a single year. Natalya Preiser did it three times from 1992-94, with a CMS-record 1257 in 1992, and the highest total since then has been Alex Harrison (978) in 2008. 

The winner of the SCIAC Postseason finals on Saturday night will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while the other participants will hope for an at-large bid with the 64-team field is announced on Monday.