CLAREMONT, CA — The University of La Verne Leopards are the SCIAC Tournament Champions. The No. 13 Leopards swept rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to claim La Verne's first SCIAC Tournament Championship in school history and first SCIAC title of any kind since 2008.

With the win, La Verne earns the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Leopards await the NCAA selection show on Monday at 10 a.m. to see who and where they will play. 

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Mya Ray was named the SCIAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She was nearly unstoppable. She hit .366 and led the Leopards with 17 kills to go with 13 digs, 2 aces, and 1 block.

Lauren Gott finished with nine kills and three blocks. Zacky Coaston tallied four blocks and four kills. 

The 3-0 win marks La Verne's first sweep over CMS since 2012.

Turning Point

After La Verne won the first set, CMS took control in the second and jumped out to an 18-12 lead. The Leopards responded with eight straight points to take control and stole the momentum from the hosts. Gott and Coaston got the run started with back-to-back kills. Coaston energized the La Verne faithful in attendance with a big solo block to put the Leopards within three. Allison Whiteman followed with a kill forcing a CMS timeout.

After an Athena error, it was Gott's turn, who followed with a block to tie the set and a kill to put La Verne up one. An ace from Madison Smith capped the turnaround sequence. CMS never recovered and another Whiteman kill sent the Leopards to the third with a chance to pull off the sweep. Whiteman totaled six kills, two aces, and three blocks.

How It Happened

Both teams had strong offensive performances to start the match, each hitting over .300 in the opening frame. Ray got La Verne rolling in the first set, racking up eight of the Leopards' 15 kills on .538 hitting. Late in the set, the Leopards created some distance when setter Malia Capistrano caught the Athenas off guard with a dump kill to put her squad up 22-18. The Athenas hung around but La Verne held on for an opening 25-23 win. Capistrano led the Leopards with 20 assists and added seven digs. Fellows setters Vanessa Marquez and Sydne Humphrey added 10 and six assists respectively.

The Leopards scored the first three points in the third, leaped to a 10-3 lead, and never looked back in the final frame. Coaston encapsulated the third set dominance when she slammed down a free ball to put the score at 12-6. Gott blasted the final kill of the game and cleared the La Verne bench for the celebration.

Smith finished with 18 digs and four assists. Kaitlyn Bloomer ended with two blocks and four digs. Mariah Ray added five kills. Kaitlyn Patterson tallied six digs and an ace.

La Verne heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 23-5 record.