CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Whitman College women's volleyball team served up the team with a pair of matches on Friday but came up short in losses to Cal Lutheran and Occidental.
Cal Lutheran 3 Whitman 1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-15)
The opening match of the day saw the Blues (0-2) drop three straight sets to the Regals after a dominant opening-set win. Kenzie Martinez led all hitters with 17 kills with Nicole Kelly adding 10 more. Teia Magaoay was impressive in her first collegiate match, recording a match-high 35 assists to go along with 11 digs.
Maci Haddad provided the offense and defense for the Regals, posting match highs of 10 kills and four blocks. Julia Trento added a match-high 15 digs.
Jamie Bartok, also playing her first match with the Blues, added a team-high 14 digs with Sophia Dominitz adding a match-high four blocks.
Whitman used a 5-0 run midway through the opening set to take a 15-9 lead. Back-to-back Kelly kills kicked off the run with Christina Boxberger closing it with a kill of her own. Cal Lu rallied with three straight points but the Blues put the set to bed with eight straight points to go up 23-21.
The Blues eyed a two-set lead but saw the Regals pull away midway through set two. They led 10-8 latter trailed by three after a 5-0 Cal Lu run. The Blues trailed late but made a game of it after Martinez and Sydney London recorded kills and got in together on a block to make it a three-point game. The Regals closed the door though and evened the match.
Cal Lu had its way with the Blues in sets three and four to pull away for the win.
Occidental 3 Whitman 1 (29-27, 16-25, 25-15, 25-19)
The nightcap again saw Martinez and Kelly lead the Blues who again fell in four sets. Martinez drilled a team-best 15 kills with Kelly adding 14 more. Despite the solid numbers, neither were able to hit at a .200 clip.
The Blues narrowly missed on an opening set win but were unable to hold down a late lead. After back-to-back kills from Martinez put her team up by six points, Occidental called a timeout but that didn't little to stall the momentum. Martinez drilled another kill after the break and Whitman led 20-11.
The Tigers mounted a furious rally to cut the lead to two points, but a Kelly kill put the Blues up 24-21. Occidental never gave in, staving off three set points before ultimately claiming the first set win.
The Blues rallied for a dominant set two win to even the match. Whitman led from the get-go and, after a London block, went up 21-10. This time the Blues closed the door to tie the match.
Occidental had its way with Whitman from then on, claiming sets three and four to win the match.
The Blues are back in action on Saturday with matches against Chapman (1:30 p.m.) and Sul Ross State (3:45 p.m.)
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