Photo by Emily Gosdanian

LA VERNE, CA — The University of La Verne volleyball team battled to win the first set and then rolled the rest of the way, sweeping the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in The Tents Tuesday night.

Set Scores: 25-21, 25-19, 25-12

Season Impact

With the sweep, the Leopards improve to 9-7 overall and 5-3 in SCIAC play. The Sagehens fall to 7-8 overall and 4-2 in the conference. 

Stat Leaders

Kristen Sanchez kept moving her way up La Verne's record book, finishing the match with a game-high 17 digs. Sanchez currently ranks third in career digs with 1,719. The senior needs 30 digs to move into the number two sport.

Not to be outdone, Madison Maynes made her way into the Leopard record book. Her game-high 28 assists put her career total at 1,282, ranking her 10th in La Verne history.

Kelsie Sievers led the Leopards with 12 kills. Darrah Jones had a solid game, totaling 10 digs, five kills, one ace, and one block.

Haley Celaya added eight kills and four digs. Teagan Griffiths led all players with three aces.

How It Happened

The Leopards and Sagehens both opened with solid play, going back and forth until a kill by Pomona-Pitzer's Gabby Harrison gave the visitors a 20-19 advantage. But La Verne closed out the set firing, ending the frame on a 6-1 run highlighted by a Maynes ace to take the opening lead.

Sievers got the Leopards going in the second set, opening the frame with three straight kills to help give the Leopards an early 6-1 lead. The Sagehens regrouped after a timeout and went on a 6-1 run of their own to even the match 7-7. After the squads traded off a few points, Maynes got the momentum back on La Verne's side, rallying off a pair of kills off quick hits that helped ignite a 7-1 Leopards' run.

The Sagehens responded yet again tying the game 16-16 when Chloe Kerstein put down a kill. But another kill by Maynes put the Leopards up for good in the set. La Verne rallied off nine of the next 12 points capped off by a Celaya kill to take the 2-0 advantage.

La Verne dominated in the final set of the match, hitting .444 to finish the night with a clean sweep.

Next Game

The Leopards take a break from SCIAC play this weekend when they host the Leopard Invitational. La Verne opens the invite on Friday with a 2 p.m. game against UC Santa Cruz and a 7 p.m. match against DeSales. On Saturday, the Leopards take on UMass Boston at 12:30 p.m. and finish with a 5:30 p.m. game against Nazareth.