For the second straight year, the University of La Verne volleyball team advances to the SCIAC Tournament final after disposing of Occidental College 3-1 in semifinal action Friday night at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks.
La Verne will face top-seed Cal Lutheran, which defeated fourth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer in four sets in the second semifinal match.
The Leopards (19-10) topped the Tigers (25-8) by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 25-16 and 25-23.
In the fourth set, the Leos overcame an early 10-5 deficit and grabbed their first lead at 17-16. La Verne extended the margin to 22-17 before the Tigers closed to within a point at 24-23. The match would end on a kill from sophomore Randi Taylor-Toomay, advancing the Leopards to Saturday's tournament final.
The Leos took a 2-1 set advantage after dominating the third stanza, 25-16. La Verne hit .325 in the set while Oxy struggled at .093.
La Verne hit .213 as a team and held the Tigers to a .143 percentage. Both squads registered 7 blocks on the night. The Leos also collected 104 digs for the match compared to 85 for Oxy.
Taylor-Toomay was the offensive catalyst for the Leos, hitting .306 on the night with a match-high 21 kills. Fellow soph Tiffany Johnstone enjoyed one of her finest outing in a Leopard uniform, hitting .385 with 12 kills and 9 digs.
Leopard freshman Danielle Maxwell hit .400, collecting 7 kills. Setter Kendall Kraiss dished out 50 assists in the four-set win. Senior Chelsea Sleight contributed with a match-high 34 digs.
Oxy's Alyssa Mort led her team with 13 kills. Logan Boyer-Hayse and Gynne Davis totaled 10 kills for the Tigers in the loss.
Saturday's tournament final between the Leopards and the Regals will take place at 6:00 pm.
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