Though the University of La Verne rallied from a 2-0 set deficit, the Leopards could not overcome Pomona-Pitzer as the Hens held on to prevail in five sets by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 19-25, 15-11 Tuesday night at Frantz Athletic Court.

The win was Pomona-Pitzer's first road triumph over the Leopards in nearly 15 years and snapped the Leos' seven-match win streak.

The Hens enjoyed a late spurt in what began as a back-and-forth first set to prevail 25-22.  In the second stanza, the Leopards trailed 21-12 but bounced back to get within a point at 24-23 before the Hens closed out the set with a kill from Eleanor Hughes to take a 2-0 set advantage.

Pomona-Pitzer nearly ended the match in three sets after rallying to take a 25-24 lead for a match point.  The Leos held and reeled off three straight points to earn a 27-25 set triumph to close the gap to 2-1.

In the fourth set, the Leopards opened up margins of 7-1 and 12-6, eventually closing the set 25-19 on a kill from Catie Logan to knot the contest at 2-2.

The Hens never trailed in the fifth frame, winning the first three points en route to opening a 7-2 advantage.  The Leopards closed to within three points at 9-6 and 10-7, but could not get any closer as Pomona-Pitzer would earn a five-set victory to improve to 7-3 on the season.  The Leopards dropped to 8-4 on the season including a 1-1 mark in conference play.

Long rallies were a common theme throughout the contest as evidenced by 113 total digs for the Sagehens and 105 for the Leopards.  As a result, both teams struggled offensively with Pomona-Pitzer hitting .136 compared to a .115 hitting clip for La Verne.

Hughes tallied a match high 22 kills while hitting .293 for the match.  Randi Taylor-Toomay collected a team-high 19 kills for the Leopards while teammate Anna Calmer chipped in with 15.

La Verne is on the road in its next contest as it travels to Thousand Oaks on Friday to take on Cal Lutheran in a 7:30 pm match.

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