Leopards Bow To Whittier In Battle For Postseason Berth
The University of La Verne volleyball team fell in three sets to visiting Whittier College 25-13, 28-26, 25-23 in SCIAC action Saturday evening at Frantz Athletic Court as its quest for a berth in the conference tournament came to an end.
The Poets (12-18, 7-6 SCIAC) clinched fourth place in the league standings and with it the final spot in next weekend's SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
La Verne could not hold back the Poets in the first set, as Whittier raced out to a 10-4 on consecutive service aces by Katie Heard. The Poets eventually closed the set by scoring the final four points to earn a 25-13 triumph, hitting .267 in the first frame.
In the second set, the Leopards went on a 4-0 run and led 19-14 on a kill from Tiffany Johnsone only to watch the Poets fight back with five straight points to knot the affair at 19-19. From there, the two squads continued to battle until at 26-26, a kill from Lauren Whiteman and a Leo attack error on the next point propeled the Poets to a 28-26 set triumph to take a 2-0 advantage.
Whittier continued its momentum in the third frame, earning three straight points to take a 13-10 lead. They would stretch the margin to 17-12 as a result of three consecutive kills from Alyssa Sialaris. La Verne closed the gap to a point on three different occasions, but at 24-23, Alayna Rigo posted the final of her match-high 19 kills to close the set and the match.
The Leopards hit .143 for the contest compared to .212 for the Poets. Rigo (19) and Sialaris (14) each totaled double figures in kills.
Catie Logan was a bright spot for La Verne in the defeat, hitting .500 for the match to go along with a team-high 14 kills.
La Verne will conclude the 2011 regular season on Tuesday at the University of Redlands in a 7:30 pm start.
