No. 22 Volleyball celebrates seniors in style, sweeps Pomona-Pitzer

No. 22 Volleyball celebrates seniors in style, sweeps Pomona-Pitzer

By Madison Rubino
La Verne Athletics Communication

LA VERNE, Calif. — Despite having its long winning streak snapped on Tuesday, the No. 22 University of La Verne volleyball team didn't lose focus and bounced back in a big way to sweep Pomona-Pitzer, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17, on Friday night at the Sports and Science Athletic Pavilion.

La Verne improves to 21-5 overall and 12-3 in the SCIAC. Pomona-Pitzer falls to 13-11 and 8-7.

Marisa Rojo led the way with double-digit kills, ringing in 15 on a solid .433 hitting while adding two aces and six digs. Kelsi Robinson and Delaney Lynch followed right behind with eight kills apiece.

One of the nation's leading setters Tiffany Mancuso tallied 39 assists, three aces, six digs, and five blocks to continue her all-around excellence.

The Leopards rediscovered their form on offense to the tune of .404 hitting while limiting the Sagehens to .143.

The Sagehens started strong, exchanging points in the first set but couldn't keep up with La Verne's offense as Lynch knocked down a huge kill to set the Leopards up for 4-0 run that gave them a 15-10 lead. The Sagehens rattled off a 6-1 run late in the set to get within 22-19, but Rojo put away two straight kills to end the set.

The Sagehens could not recover after the first set and La Verne held Pomona-Pitzer's offense to .083 hitting while it registered a scorching .486 in the second set. After kills by Isabel Kelly and Vicky Addo-Ashong tied the set at 9-9, La Verne went on a 12-2 streak keyed by four kills from Rojo to grab a 21-11 lead and never looked back.

The Leopards continued to hit with pinpoint hitting (.385) in the third set to run the Sagehens out of the Tents.

Before the match, the Leopards celebrated the careers of their four seniors: Robinson,Mancuso, Cassie Thompson and Kaylee Johnson. Thompson registered seven kills on .462 hitting and got in on five blocks. Johnson put down six kills.

The Leopards return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Caltech to wrap up the regular season. La Verne will play in the first round of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament on Thursday at a site to be determined. Postseason matchups will be determined after the conclusion of tomorrow's SCIAC matches.