The University of La Verne volleyball squad earned a pair of victories on Saturday, topping Bates College and Whittier College in three-set  sweeps at Graham Athletics Center on the Whittier campus.

The Leopards opened with a 25-17, 25-9, 25-17 triumph over Bates, hitting .321 while limiting their opponent to a .093 percentage.

Kendall Kraiss led the Leopards with 9 kills and 22 assists, while Catie Logan and Randi Taylor-Toomay had 8 kills apiece. Chrissy Gee paced the Bobcats with 9 kills, tying for match-high honors.

The Leopards concluded their day by taking on Whittier in a conference matchup, defeating the Poets 28-26, 25-13, 25-16.

In the first set, La Verne went on a 6-1 run to turn a 15-13 deficit into a 19-16 lead.  La Verne would hold two set points at 24-22, but a pair of service aces from Vanessa Amran led to a 24-24 deadlock.  The Poets would hold a set point at 26-25, but the Leos reeled off three consecutive points on kills from Tiffany Johnstone, Toomay and culiminating on a Whittier attack error.

La Verne seized a 2-0 advantage with a strong finish to the second set.  Up 11-10, the Leopards closed with a 14-3 run (including an 8-0 spurt) to prevail 25-13.

The Leos completed the sweep by taking leads of 6-2, 16-9 and 21-12.  The match ended on a Poet attack error at 24-16.

The Leopards improve to 14-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play.  The Poets fall to 6-10 and 1-11 in the SCIAC.

La Verne returns home Tuesday night to face Occidental College.  Start time is 7:30 pm.