Volleyball splits on first day of Pacific Coast Classic

Volleyball splits on first day of Pacific Coast Classic

LA VERNE, Calif. — The University of La Verne volleyball team split a pair of games on the first day of the annual Pacific Coast Classic, co-hosted by La Verne, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer.

Game 1: No. 11 Carthage 3, La Verne 0

The Leopards just could not find their footing against the 11th-ranked Carthage in the first match of the day as they lost, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17.

The Lady Reds came out of the gates firing, grabbing the first five points of the first set and using another 5-0 run later in the set to lead by as much as nine points in the set. The Leopards managed to string together three points at the end of the set to get within 24-19, but could not dig out of the early hole.

The teams traded points for much of the second set and the Leopards were led by Kelsi Robinson, Cassie Thompson and Brittany Yaxley, who recorded three kills apiece in the set. But with the set tied at 21-21, Carthage notched three straight points to push the Leopards to the brink. Tiffany Mancuso scored on a sneak attack to stop the run but the Lady Reds took the set on an Emily Heuermann kill in the next rally.

The Leopards went out to an early 7-3 lead in the third aided by three kills from freshman Delaney Lynch but the Lady Reds took the next four points to even the set. Carthage then went on to piece together three more runs of four points to seal the win.

Game 2: La Verne 3, LeTourneau 2

The Leopards came back from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat LeTourneau, 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-13, 15-10.

La Verne could not find consistency until the fourth and the fifth sets, when they hit .384 after going .198 in the first three frames.

The Leopards flipped their switch late in the fourth as they ripped of nine straight points to take the set. LeTourneau won the first point of the fifth, but the Leopards went on a 7-1 run to take a five-point lead and never looked back.

Lynch who was impressive in her one-set cameo against Carthage got the nod to start against LeTourneau and responded with 11 kills.

Four outher players notched at least 10 kills for La Verne. Robinson led the way with 15, Yaxley had 11, and Destinee Sales and Ashlyn Cross added 10 each.

From head coach Jenna Panatier

On Carthage: "Carthage is a well coached team that plays the game very cleanly. Their discipline enabled them to put us on our heels."

On LeTourneau: "Our team finally settled down and executed what we've been practicing the last two weeks. They had energy, they were disciplined and they were coachable."

On freshman Delaney Lynch: "She came off the bench composed and was able to earn us some crucial points. She's got some intangibles that are pretty special for a freshman. She has impressive dynamic movements that are going to earn her a lot of playing time this season."