Making its return to competitive action after an 11-day hiatus, the University of La Verne opened strong against Occidental College but were eventually overtaken by the Tigers in a 3-1 (19-25, 25-10, 25-14, 26-24) defeat in SCIAC action Tuesday night at Rush Gymnasium in Eagle Rock.

The victory was Occidental's first over La Verne in nearly 10 years.  Oxy last topped the Leopards on Oct. 31, 2000.

La Verne seemed undeterred by the layoff as it found its rhythm early on led by the play of Kendall Kraiss and Anna Calmer.  The Leopards jumped out to a 16-8 advantage and held off a late Tiger rally to claim a 25-19 victory in the opening set.

Oxy roared back behind the efforts of Logan Boyer-Hayse and Stephanie Gann, who combined for 21 kills in sets 2 and 3.  Offensively, the Tigers enjoyed hitting percentages of .407 and .419 against the Leopards in cruising to 25-10 and 25-14 wins in sets 2 and 3, respectively, to take a 2-1 advantage. 

In the fourth set, the Leopards trailed 17-13 before rallying to tie at 20-20. The two teams split the next eight points, leaving the frame tied at 24-24.  From there, Boyer-Hayse closed the match with a kill followed by a service ace to propel the Tigers to victory. 

Boyer-Hayse tallied a match-high 22 kills along with 10 digs for Oxy.  La Verne was paced by Catie Logan and Randi Taylor-Toomay, who each recorded 12 kills.  Morgan Donohue collected a team-high 23 digs.

Oxy, currently in second place in the SCIAC, improves to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play while La Verne drops to 8-6 and 1-3, respectively. 

La Verne steps out of conference play this weekend to host its annual Leopard Invitational at Frantz Athletic Court.  The Leos will meet Schreiner (TX) in their opening match scheduled for 11:30 am.

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