Photo by Emily Gosdanian

LA VERNE, CA — The University of La Verne volleyball team had little trouble dismantling it four opponents over the weekend, ending the annual Leopard Invitational with four wins.  

Season Impact

With the wins, the Leopards improve to 13-7 overall and extend their winning streak to five games. The Leopards only dropped one set all weekend. La Verne has won 15 of their last 16 sets.

Stat Leaders

Kristen Sanchez continued to climb up the La Verne record books. The senior finished with 63 digs, moving her career total to 1,782 digs. Sanchez now sits at second all-time in Leopard history passing Lauren Friestad (1,749).

Kelsie Sievers and Haley Celaya led the attack for the Leopards. Sievers put down 49 kills over the weekend with Celaya adding 35 kills. Senior Katelyn Winiecki finished with 31 kills. Celaya also had a solid weekend from the line, leading La Verne with eight aces. Madison Maynes dished out 125 assists.

Defensively, Briana Voght led at the net with 15 blocks. Sievers totaled 12 blocks in the matches.

La Verne 3, DeSales 1

Set Scores: 25-23, 25-16, 21-25, 25-19

Sievers and Celaya were dominant in the opening game of the invite finishing with 19 and 11 kills respectively. Sanchez totaled 20 digs with Maynes adding 19 digs and 40 assists.

La Verne 3, UC Santa Cruz 0

Set Scores: 25-20, 25-20, 25-23

The Leopards added their first sweep of the weekend against the Banana Slugs for their second win of the tournament. 

Tied 23-23 if the third, Sanchez connected with Darrah Jones who put down a kill to bring up match point. Maynes and Celaya teamed up for the final point to give La Verne the win.

La Verne 3, UMass Boston 0

Set Scores: 25-18, 25-14, 25-18

Sievers was untouchable in Saturday's opener. The senior finished with 12 kills on .571 hitting to lead the Leopards in their second straight sweep.

Maynes had a great match, totaling 24 assists, 10 digs, five kills, and three aces in the win.

La Verne 3, Nazareth 0

Set Scores: 25-14, 25-12, 25-17

The Leopards made quick work of Nazareth in the invite's finale. Winiecki led the way with eight kills with Voght and Sievers each adding seven. 

Next Game

The Leopards get back to SCIAC play in a match-up Tuesday night against Cal Lutheran. La Verne defeated the Regals earlier this year, rebounding from a 2-0 deficit to win in five sets. Game time is set for 7 p.m.