Athenas Volleyball 2023-24 Season Recap
8TH CONSECUTIVE SCIAC CHAMPIONSHIP!
6TH CONSECUTIVE SCIAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP!
10TH CONSECUTIVE NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH!
4TH NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!
2ND TOP 3 NATIONAL FINISH IN THE PAST 3 YEARS!
In another season of high achievement, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas volleyball continued to excel at the local level in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and at the national level with another top three finish at the national championships. In fact, CMS earned the respect of hosting the national championship Elite Eight tournament at its home court at Roberts Pavilion, the premier Division III arena in the nation.
As usual, CMS begins its season by co-hosting the Pacific Coast Classic. The Athenas won all three matches that opening weekend. Then CMS hosted another tournament the following weekend: the annual East-West Showdown that brings the best of the best from across the country to one tournament. The tournament schedule concluded a week later at the Cal – Lu- Fornia Classic hosted by SCIAC member Cal Lutheran. In these three tournaments – nine matches, 34 sets – the Athenas faced off against nationally ranked teams.
While it may give a first impression of a disappointing season going from 30-1 in 2022 to 26-6 in 2023, that hardly was the case. As the season wore on, the team got stronger. The Athenas put together another championship run in conference play, wining its eight consecutive SCIAC title. In these 16 matches, CMS 44-6 in its 50 sets, including 13 three-set wins. The Athenas ran their SCIAC win streak to 53. The team went on to win its sixth straight SCIAC tournament title and get the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships; marking its tenth straight year of competing for the national title. The Athenas now stand at 21-13 in NCAA championship matches.
The 2023 roster was filled with a wide variety with members from each class: four seniors, nine juniors, 3 sophomores, and 4 first year players. The youth of the prior two years teams had matured and welcomed newcomers to the program mentoring to the CMS way of volleyball.
Jenna Holmes (SR, CMC, Rancho Cucamonga) showed no loss in performance coming off her 2022 National Player of the Year season. She once again led the outside attack even as opponents keyed on her in trying to limit her impact during the matches.
Georgia McGovern (SR, CMC, Oxford, ENG), returned for her senior year as the team’s setter and showed her increased versatility and value as the team moved back to a 5-1 offense. Her numbers as a setter and hitter got only stronger throughout the season with 1195 assists and 149 kills.
Izzy Sakoda (SR, CMC, Honolulu, HI) saved her best for last as her senior year brought on her highest number of kills and digs.
Maxine Matheson-Lieber (SR, CMC, Portland, OR) was another member of the full arsenal of outside hitters in the CMS attack.
Audrey Sawyer (JR, CMC, San Diego) got only better with another year of experience as the leading middle blocker hitting .390 with 203 kills 77 blocks. Brenna Bell (JR, CMC, Murrieta) started at the right side and was the team leader in kills from the opposite attack hitting .277.
Dede Carranza (JR, CMC, Gardena), got even better in her third year as the starting libero. Her 539 digs were at the top of the national charts as she spearheaded the CMS defense. Isabel Yau-Weeks (JR, CMC, Oakland) was first on as the defensive specialist and showed why with 93 digs and 10 service aces.
Ashley Murashige (JR, SCR, Honolulu, HI) was another part of the Athenas back row defense coming off the bench in this strong position for the Athenas. Izze Stolzoff (JR, SCR, Bellingham, WA) brought strong relief as part of the team’s setter corps.
Dani Beder (JR, CMC, Newport Beach) saw increased action in the middle and the team benefited with her strong .318 hitting percentage. Kelsey Polhemus (JR, CMC, San Francisco) and Lauren Parker (JR, HMC, Sammamish, WA) were two more at the middle blocker position who contributed to making this such a strong part of the CMS attack.
Brooke McKee (SO, CMC, Upland) came off the bench early in the year and increased her productivity at outside hitter as the year progressed. A late season injury interrupted her season. Shelby McIlroy (SO, CMC, Aliso Viejo) returned for her second year and was one of the back-up setters for CMS. Jhila Ferdows (SO, CMC, Woodside) contributed to the Athena defense as another of the strong defensive specialists on the roster.
Shae Delaney (FY, CMC, Santa Barbara) came in as a first-year player and became part of the CMS outside hitting attack. Solvej Eversoll (FY, CMC, St. Paul, MN) joined the middle blockers in her first season for the Athenas and fit right in hitting .538 in limited action. Samantha Riter (FY, HMC, Pleasanton) and Anna Ryan (FY, CMC, Atherton) both were part of the team’s setter regimen. Riter also was brought in for key serving situations.
After its early season tournament run and successes, CMS ran right into conference play taking on the best the SCIAC had to offer. Playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Athenas had to be ready for every opponent every night.
CMS opened with ten consecutive 3-set wins and closed conference play with three more wins of the 3-set variety. The toughness of the SCIAC schedule prepared the Athenas for the post-season where they would face only the better of the better and then the best of the best.
By winning the conference championship, CMS earned the number one seed in the even more intense SCIAC post-season tournament. This year’s tournament was made an even tougher task because the Athenas would have to take on the two teams that dealt them defeats in 2023 conference action.
Whittier College came to Robert Pavilion for the semi-final match and CMS was ready to make a statement. With wins of 25-16 and 25-6 in the first two sets, the Athenas made it clear that they were ready for the post-season play to begin. A 25-23 outcome in set three sealed the victory and pushed CMS into the tournament finals two nights later.
Roberts Pavilion was filled as the Athenas took on La Verne. The Leos had finished in second place and would earn an NCAA bid themselves but first had to take on CMS on its home court. The match was close but CMS held tough and prevailed 25-23 in each of the first two sets. The Athenas then turned up the heat to pull away 25-16 in the third and final set to capture the 2023 SCIAC tournament championship.
The conference tournament title means an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships but it does not mean an easy pathway. And this year was no different as CMS had to travel cross country to Massachusetts for the MIT regional. The Athenas rose to the occasion with three 3-set wins facing UM Dartmouth (25-11, 25-13, 25-20) and Salisbury (MD) (25-15, 25-22, 25-18) before toppling host MIT (25-13, 25-17, 25-17). This was the fourth regional championship for CMS earning it a return trip to the NCAA Elite Eight.
This year was special for the Athenas because CMS and Roberts Pavilion was chosen as the host site for the 2023 NCAA Championship Finals tournament. This would mark the first time the finals were held on the west coast in over 20 years. CMS and its fans put on a great show with top-notch hospitality and huge fan support.
The Athenas, while being rewarded with the host site, were not rewarded with a top seeding. In fact, CMS was seeded number eight and had to face number one seed UW Oshkosh in the quarter-final match. But that did not stop the Athenas. In front of its home crowd fans, CMS blasted out with a 25-18 first set win and did not look back as it swept the Titans out of the tournament in three sets winning 25-17 in sets two and three.
For the semi-finals, CMS next had to play seed number four Hope College. The Athenas lost two close sets to find itself down 0-2. Not to stay down, CMS rebounded with wins in the next two sets to even the match at 2-2. Sadly, the season came to a quiet close as the Athenas fell 10-15 in the fifth and final set. However, the Roberts Pavilion crowd showed its appreciation for the team with a standing ovation.
After the SCIAC season had ended, the coaches voted for the all-conference teams. Dede Carranza, Jenna Holmers, Georgia McGovern, and Audrey Sawyer were named to the first team All-SCIAC while Brenna Bell was voted onto the second team. Carranza was named SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
Following the all-conference selections, came the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-West region team. Dede Carranza, Jenna Holmes, and Audrey Sawyer were name to the All-West Region team and Brenna Bell received an honorable mention nod. Georgia McGovern was named West Region Player of the Year making this a CMS selection two years in a row.
The final AVCA announcements came at the Elite Eight championships – namely the All- American team selections. Jenna Holmes and Georgia McGovern were named 1st team All-America and Audrey Sawyer was name to the 3rd team All-America. Dede Carranza was given honorable mention honors.
After the NCAA tournament concluded, Georgia McGovern was named to the All-Tournament team. This follows her being name the most valuable player of the SCIAC post-season tournament and of the NCAA MIT regional.
The final season honors had to do with the academic commitment all CMS student-athletes make during their careers at the three colleges. Brenna Bell, Georgia McGovern, and Audrey Sawyer earned academic all-district honors from the College Sports Communicators. McGovern then was selected first team Academic All-American.
Whew! – After such a whirlwind of excitement in 2023, now it is time to look forward to 2024 and more successes for Athenas volleyball team. The season will open with highly competitive tournaments that bring the best of the nation to CMS and takes CMS around the nation.
Then the SCIAC season comes around – and the SCIAC is one of the best Division III volleyball conferences in the NCAA. It is more times than not that multiple teams from the SCIAC go deep into the national championship tournament.
And while CMS will not be hosting the Elite Eight in 2024, one can expect the Athenas with its returning players and the new recruiting class to be in the hunt to return to the final championship rounds.
As always, we thank you for your support of CMS volleyball. Please watch for new and exciting developments at cms.claremont.edu. In addition, the website has archives of great CMS Athenas volleyball memories.