Despite dropping the opening set against Occidental, the University of La Verne would rally to take the next three frames on its way to a 3-1 road triumph over the Tigers in SCIAC volleyball action Saturday at Rush Gymnasium in Eagle Rock.
The Leopards topped the Tigers by scores of 25-27, 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 to extend their win streak to five matches.
In the first set, La Verne led 22-19 only to watch the Tigers reel off three consecutive points for a 22-22 tie. La Verne had a pair of set points, but Oxy fought back and eventually grabbed a 26-25 advantage. Logan Boyer-Hayse would post a kill to provide the Tigers with the set win at 27-25.
La Verne bounced back to hit .341 in the second frame en route to recording a 25-20 verdict to notch the contest at a set apiece. Trailing 7-5, the Leos took command with a 6-0 run to go up 11-7 lead. The Tigers closed to within a point on three occassions, the last coming at 22-21. The Leopards however would take the next three points - the final two earned on kills from Brittany Yaxley and Catie Logan - to prevail 25-21.
The Leos came back from a late deficit in the third frame to take a 2-1 lead. Down 23-19, La Verne rallied on the strength of kills from Randi Taylor-Toomay, Kayla Cribbs along with a pair of Oxy attack errors to win 25-23.
In the fourth set, the Leopards closed strong on offense by hitting .353. Down 7-5, La Verne grabbed the lead with four straight points to go up 9-7. Leading 16-14, the Leos added yet another 4-0 spurt culminating with consecutive kills from Catie Logan and Kendall Kraiss to seize a 20-14 advantage. Leading 24-17, Taylor-Toomay concluded the match with a service ace to provide the final margin.
Taylor-Toomay posted a team-high 18 kills while Cribbs hit .464 en route to a 14-kill performance. Kraiss dished out a match-high 41 assists.
Boyer-Hayse led Oxy with a match-high 20 kills.
In defeating the Tigers, the Leopards earned their second win this week over a 2011 NCAA Postseason entrant. La Verne topped Chapman in five sets on Tuesday night.
La Verne improves to 13-2 overall and 6-1 in league play while Occidental dropped to 10-4 and 3-3 prior to its home match against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps later in the day.
The Leopards resume action Tuesday night on the road as they face Whittier College in a 7:30 pm start.