Photo by Shane Rodrigues

LA VERNE, Calif. — The University of La Verne volleyball team was stymied by No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a 25-16, 25-18, 25-17 loss on Friday night at Sports Science and Athletic Pavilion.

La Verne falls to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the SCIAC. CMS remains undefeated at 11-0 and 3-0 in SCIAC play.

The Leopards, who went into the match averaging 13.44 kills per set, were held to nine per set tonight for a total of 27 and were limited to .103 hitting.

The Athenas were quick and strong in defense, seemingly getting at least a finger on every one of La Verne's balls. The Athenas recorded 71 digs as a team and registered six total blocks.

Every set played out almost identically. CMS got out to an early advantage, La Verne regrouped to get clos but the Athenas went on big runs to take control.

Cassie Thompson remained hot for La Verne. The senior registered seven kills on 18 attempts, had four digs and recorded two blocks.

Delaney Lynch had seven kills and Kelsi Robinson had six.

Shelbi Stein scored three of the Athenas' first seven points in the opening frame to stake CMS to a 7-3 advantage. La Verne then took advantage of a pair of errors by Crystal Anderson and a kill eatch from Lynch and Tiffany Mancuso to get within 11-10. CMS the responded with a 5-1 run to stretch the lead to 16-11 and never looked back.

In the second set, Nicole Kerkhof set the pace for CMS, registering four kills early. Kills by Kaylee Johnson and Thompson got the Leopards within 11-8 but the Athenas rattled off another 5-1 lead to grab a seven-point advantage.

First five points of the third set went to CMS and La Verne regrouped to get to 11-8, but the Athenas eventually stretched the lead to nine points to seal the win.

The Leopards are back in action tomorrow on the road at Occidental. First serve is at 4 p.m.