The University of La Verne concluded action at the Puget Sound Premier Invitational by defeating a pair of nationally-ranked West Region rivals, topping both the host Puget Sound and Cal State East Bay in four games Saturday in Tacoma, Wash.

In both instances, La Verne recovered from first set losses to take the next three frames en route to victory.  The Leopards turned back #12 East Bay 17-25, 25-16, 25-20, 30-28 followed by a 11-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-14 triumph over #7 Puget Sound.

Against UPS, the Leos hit .448 and .389 in the final two sets and held the Loggers to percentages of .217 and .105 in claiming the rematch of last season's West Region final.   The duo of Crista Jones and Brianna Gonzales sparked the Leopard attack combining for 31 kills.  Jones tallied 16 kills while hitting .348 with Gonzales adding 15 kills to go along with 9 digs.  Anna Calmer contributed 9 kills and 8 digs with Rebecca Villanueva collecting a team-high 15 digs and 6 kills.

La Verne held off East Bay in its first match of the day after falling behind 1-0.  The Leopards clawed back to seize the advantage at 2-1 after taking the next two sets 25-16 and 25-20.  The two teams traded points in the late stages of the fourth stanza and were tied 28-28 before the Leos won the next two points to take the match 3-1.  Both Gonzales (17 kills, 15 digs) and Villanueva (12 kills, 19 digs) tallied double-doubles in the win while Jones recorded 9 kills to go along with 3 service aces.

Gonzales was named Most Valuable Player of two-day tournament, with Jones and Chelsea Sleight also earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

The Leopards return to California to begin defense of its SCIAC Championship on the road Tuesday night against the California Institute of Technology.  Start time is 7:30 pm.