Boxscore

Post-match press conference

In heart-stopping fashion, the University of La Verne volleyball squad rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to earn a thrilling five-set triumph over Hardin-Simmons University in first round action of the NCAA West Regional Friday evening at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks.

Set scores were 25-16, 18-25, 19-25, 25-23 and 15-12.

With the win, the No. 25 Leopards advance to the Regional Semifinals to face the winner of the Cal Lutheran-Southwestern matchup.  The win also ended Hardin-Simmons' 25-match win streak.

La Verne (22-5) seized control in the final frame, jumping out to a 6-1 lead.  The Leopards maintained their margin as back-to-back kills from Randi Taylor-Toomay put the Leos up 11-6.  A Hardin-Simmons net violation gave the Leos a match point at 14-9, but the Cowgirls fought back with three straight points to close the gap to 14-12.  Kendall Kraiss would close matters as she delivered a kill to finish off the match at 15-12 to secure victory.

The Leopards forced a fifth set by overtaking Hardin-Simmons in the late stages of the fourth frame.  Down 18-16, La Verne went on a 6-0 spurt culminating on a HSU attack error followed by a ball-handling error put the Leos on top 22-18.  HSU came back with four straight points ending on a kill from Madison Reyes tied the set at 22.  Tied at 23, freshman Destinee Sales recorded a kill to give La Verne a set point at 24-23.  A HSU attack error would follow to provide the Leos with a set win at 25-23 to even the contest at two sets apiece.

After dropping the opening set, Hardin-Simmons (29-4) controlled sets #2 and #3 with wins of 25-18 and 25-19, respectively, to take a 2-1 advantage. 

La Verne grabbed the opening stanza, using a run of 4-0 to build a 16-11 cushion to force an HSU timeout.  The teams continue to trade points as the Leos led 21-16 to force a second Cowgirl timeout.  The Leos would close out with four consecutive points, culminating on a block and service ace to prevail 25-16.  La Verne held HSU to a -.065 hitting percentage.

In the second set, the Cowgirls' blocking attack began to come through as countered with a 5-1 spurt as they HSU took a 10-7 lead.  The Leopards bounced back to tie at 11, but HSU claimed the next two points to retake the lead at 13-11.  A kill by Tori Martinez put the Cowgirls on top 15-12 to force a Leopard timeout.   HSU extended its lead to 18-12.  La Verne failed to cut into the deficit as Hardin-Simmons pulled away down the stretch and led by as many as eight on its way to a 25-18 set win.  The Leos were held to a .000 hitting percentage in the second set.

In the third frame, the Leopards won the first four points only to see the Cowgirls to pull ahead at 8-7.  Tied at 11, a Martinez kill gave the Cowgirls the lead for good and propelled a 4-0 run to put HSU on top 15-11.  The Cowgirls maintained their cushion and held a 21-16 advantage to force a La Verne timeout.  A kill from Martinez on a Leopard overpass clinched a 25-19 set triumph.

La Verne hit .162 for the match with the Cowgirls posting a .123 clip.  HSU enjoyed a blocking advantage of 12.5-7.5 over the Leopards, though Green and Orange held a dig cushion of 68-61.

Taylor-Toomay led the offensive attack with 15 kills followed by 13 kills from Brittany Yaxley.  Kayla Cribbs finished with 9 kills while Kraiss and Catie Logan posted 7 and 6, respectively.  Hardin-Simmons enjoyed a balanced attack as Reyes, Christine Sas and Hannah Hornsby each recording 12 kills in the defeat. 

Hardin-Simmons remained winless during NCAA Tournament play in program history as it was making its fourth tournament appearance.  Each of the Cowgirls' losses this season came at the hands of SCIAC opponents.

La Verne won its first NCAA Tournament match since a five-set win over Redlands in the 2009 West Region semifinal.  Friday's contest marks the sixth five-set match of the season and the first since a 3-2 triumph over Chapman back on September 25.  La Verne has gone 4-2 in five-set matches on the year with four occurring against teams in the West Region field.