LA VERNE, Calif. — Marisa Rojo led all players with 13 kills and the No. 24 University of La Verne volleyball team rolled on their way to a 3-0 win over the visiting Redlands Bulldogs Friday night.
Set Scores: 25-19, 25-18, 25-17
Season Impact: The Leopards remain in second place in the SCIAC and improve to 8-2 in conference play and 15-5 overall. Redlands falls to 6-12 overall and 2-7 in SCIAC play.
Madison Maynes stayed busy, finishing with a game-high 38 assists. Katelyn Winiecki turned in double-digit kills, finishing with 12.
After La Verne jumped out to a 17-11 lead in the first set, the Bulldogs battled back to within a point of the Leopards. But La Verne took three of the next four points, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout to try to slow the Leopards' momentum. Kiana Valdivieso came out of the break firing back-to-back aces to extend the lead with her squad eventually winning the set.
Redlands responded in the second set, taking an early 9-8 lead. That's when the Leopards began to rally and jumped ahead 10-9 after a Rojo kill. La Verne closed out the set on a 10-5 run to take the 2-0 lead in the match.
The Leopards dominated in the final frame, leading by as many as 12 points in the set to take the clean sweep. La Verne finished the set with a .368 hitting percentage.
Kelsie Sievers put down nine kills. Sarah Yauchzee stepped in for three aces in the match.
Alexia Balistreri led her team with three blocks. Libero Kristen Sanchez totaled 18 digs on the night. Rojo added 10 digs of her own.
Next Game: The Leopards travel to Pasadena to face the Caltech Beavers tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Leopards beat Caltech 3-0 at home earlier this season.
