Whitman College women's volleyball split its final two matches of a Southern California road trip Saturday, falling to Pomona-Pitzer in four sets before staving off a rally for a five-set victory over Occidental at Voelkel Gymnasium in Claremont, California. The Blues used a dominant deciding set to finish the day with a win.
Pomona-Pitzer 3 Whitman 1
CLAREMONT, Calif. — Whitman College dropped a four-set match to Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, falling 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17 at Voelkel Gymnasium.
The Sagehens controlled the opening set and built an early 5-0 lead in the second before Whitman battled back. The Blues trimmed the deficit to 17-16 and later pulled within 24-22, but Pomona-Pitzer held on to take a two-set advantage.
Whitman answered in the third set, recovering from an early 10-3 deficit. The Blues used a 10-3 run to tie the score at 13, then broke a 21-21 deadlock with three of the final four points. Addie Belt and Rowyn Lee combined on a block for set point, giving Whitman the 25-22 win.
Pomona-Pitzer regained control early in the fourth, racing to a 12-3 advantage. Whitman closed to within 14-10, but the Sagehens pulled away to secure the match.
Belt led Whitman with 14 kills, while Lee recorded 10 kills on .714 hitting and contributed four block assists. Haylee Pruse paced the offense with 30 assists, and Sammy Holmer posted 12 digs. Lauren Fogliani added 12 digs.
Whitman totaled 13 team blocks, led by Holmer's nine block assists and Belt's eight. Pomona-Pitzer was led by nine kills from Ella Mesard and eight each from CC Porter and Kayla Thienprasiddhi.
Whitman 3 Occidental 2
LOS ANGELES — Arina Gushchina delivered 24 kills as Whitman College closed its road trip with a five-set victory over Occidental, 25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 13-25, 15-7, on Saturday at Voelkel Gymnasium.
The Blues seized control early, overcoming a 4-0 deficit in the opening set behind a 15-3 run. Whitman used a pair of service aces from Belt during the surge and secured the 25-20 win on another Belt ace.
Whitman carried that momentum into the second set, pulling away behind a 10-1 stretch that turned a 5-5 tie into a 15-6 lead. The Blues hit .171 in the set and limited Occidental to a minus-.111 attacking percentage en route to the 25-14 victory.
Occidental responded by taking the next two sets. The Tigers rallied from a 14-9 deficit to claim the third set 25-23, then held Whitman to 13 points in the fourth to force a decisive fifth set.
The Blues answered emphatically in the tiebreaker. Trailing 3-1, Whitman scored 11 of the next 12 points to build a 12-4 lead. Gushchina had five kills in the set, while Whitman's block helped contain the Tigers' attack. Gushchina's kill made it 14-7 before Belt sealed the victory with a service ace.
Gushchina finished with 24 kills on .340 hitting and 16 digs. Belt added 15 kills, seven block assists and a match-high six service aces, while Pruse recorded 39 assists. Fogliani led the Blues with 20 digs, and Holmer added 21.
Whitman finished with 54 kills, eight aces and nine team blocks. Occidental received 13 kills from Corinne Van Haeren and 11 from Anna Curtis-Revelle.
The Blues now serve up Northwest Conference play when they host Lewis & Clark on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7:00 p.m.
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