CLAREMONT, CA — The University of La Verne volleyball team fell in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament Championship game on Friday against top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

It was the Leopards' first appearance in the championship game since 2010.

La Verne, which is ranked third in its region and 19th in the nation, will have to wait for the NCAA Selection show on Monday, at 10 a.m. to see if they earn an at-large post to the NCAA tournament. The selection show will be broadcast on NCAA.com.

"I think for us we're just acting like we're going. We'll see on Monday but I feel like we put a resume good enough to go be in the national conversation and go to NCAAs so we're gonna act like we are until they let us know," said University of La Verne volleyball head coach Jeff Hendershot.

Mya Ray led La Verne with 14 kills in the game with nine digs. Lauren Gott added 12 kills on a .393 hitting percentage and 11 digs. Malia Capistrano finished with 23 assists. 

The Leopards had their chances in the first two frames to steal a set win. Trailing 19-14, La Verne battled back to get within a point following an ace by Ray that made the score 22-21. But the Athenas rode a .528 hitting percentage in the set to take the opening 1-0 lead. 

It was a similar story in the second set with the Leopards cutting into CMS' lead with a 4-0 run highlighted by a kill from Ray to make the score 22-21. But again the Athenas were able to close out the set.

"Hats off to CMS they played absolutely lights out. They have core players who have been there and done it and they played like it tonight. I'd like to see fewer errors from us than that. The first contacts weren't great but we competed and we hung in there. We came back in those first two sets when we were down five or six points at times. 

"We have a young group who are learning how to do it. Matches like this make us better. Our future is bright. We're excited about it. The conversation all year has been that it doesn't matter what our age is, it does matter how we play and what we do. For this team, the expectation was to get here. It was never we'll figure it out and see what it's like. It was like no we have the talent, we're doing it, and they did it which is amazing. We're pumped, we're excited," added Hendershot.