CMS Volleyball Caps Off Perfect Regular Season with Senior Day Win over La Verne

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team finished off its first perfect regular season in program history with a three-set win (25-22, 25-15, 25-15) over La Verne on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Pavilion.

CMS ends the regular season at 26-0 and 16-0 in the SCIAC, its second straight undefeated season in conference play, although it suffered one non-conference regular season loss a year ago (at Calvin). La Verne falls to 17-9 overall and 11-5 in SCIAC and will play CMS again in the league semifinals on Thursday night at Roberts Pavilion. 

The Athenas also honored its three graduating seniors, Jackie Jones, Sonia Bliss and Spencer Hagenbuch prior to the contest. Summer Ellis and Izzy Sakoda are also part of the Class of 2023, but play to return next season to make up for the year lost to the pandemic. 

The first set was a tight battle the whole way through with the Leopards getting as close as 22-21 late. Jones came up with a big kill off a Hagenbuch assist to make it 23-21, and Jenna Holmes followed with a kill to stretch the lead to 24-21. After the Leopards got one point back, Hagenbuch finished off the set with a fake-set dump for a kill and a 25-22 win. 

CMS then found another gear in the second and third sets to pull away for the convincing 3-0 sweep. A 6-0 run in the second set turned a 9-8 lead into a 15-8 advantage, with Jones contributing two kills and a block to start the run, and Audrey Sawyer adding a kill and two blocks. Sayer had two straight service aces to make it 22-10, and the Athenas ended up with a 25-15 win and a 2-0 lead. 

The Athenas had a narrow 14-12 lead in the third before pulling away, starting with a Dani Beder kill. Jones then had two kills and a block in a 5-0 run that made it 21-13, and Sawyer ended the match with a kill for a 25-15 win, a 3-0 sweep, and a perfect regular season. 

Dede Carranza had a big day defensively for CMS with 24 digs in three sets, getting eight in each one, several of the spectacular variety. Holmes led CMS in kills with 10, while Brenna Bell (7-1-13, .462) and Summer Ellis (7-1-15, .400) had their typically efficient days from the right side. Jones had a strong senior day with nine kills in 22 attempts, hitting .318, while Bliss had six digs and Hagenbuch had 18 assists and two kills. 

CMS will take on La Verne again at Roberts Pavilion on Thursday as it tries to advance to the Saturday championship, in pursuit of its fifth straight SCIAC Tournament title.