CLAREMONT, CA — The University of La Verne volleyball team battled back Thursday night in the SCIAC Postseason Semifinals and got to within a point of evening the match 2-2.

But the No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas fought of the Leopards' three set-point chances to take the fourth set 29-27 and win the match 4-1.

Set Scores: 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 29-27

What's Next

La Verne still has a shot at making the NCAA Tournament. The Leopards are ranked No. 7 in the west region but will need to wait until Monday when the playoff brackets are released on NCAA.com to see if they will continue their season.

Stat Leaders

Freshman Haley Celaya led the Leopards with 15 kills, three blocks, and six digs. Kelsie Sievers and Katelyn Winiecki each finished with 11 kills and five total blocks. Junior Briana Voght added eight kills and five blocks.

Senior Kristen Sanchez ended with a game-high 28 digs to go with five assists. Madison Maynes dished out 38 assists and added 12 digs. Emma Estigoy finished with 11 digs.

The Leopards as a team finished with 11 total blocks.

The Athenas were led by Amanda Walker's 15 kills and Melanie Moore's 14 kills.

How it Happened

After the Athenas took the opening set, La Verne responded with an impressive second set. The La Verne defense came up big in the frame, totaling five of their blocks. Celaya and Voght teamed up for the first one, denying an attack by Moore to tie the score 3-3.

After an error by the Athenas, Celaya and Voght teamed up again for another block to put La Verne up 5-4. The Leopards wouldn't give up the lead the rest of the frame. La Verne closed out the set on a 3-0 run sparked by yet another block this time by Sievers and Voght.

In the third, the Athenas got out an early lead and were able to hold off a late run by the Leopards to take a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, the Leopards were able to fend off the first match-point by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps after Sievers and Celaya knocked down back-to-back kills to tie the game 24-24. Another kill by Celaya brought up set-point for the Leopards. But the Athenas fought off the Leopards to win the match.