WHITTIER, CA — After splitting the first two sets, the University of La Verne volleyball team used hot hitting to take the final to frames and leave Whittier with a huge 3-1 win Tuesday night.

Set Scores: 25-22, 25-27, 25-19, 25-17

Season Impact

The Leopards improve their overall record to 17-9 and 9-5 in SCIAC play. Whittier falls to 15-11 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

Conference Outlook

Heading into Tuesday's match, the Poets and Leopards were tied for fifth place in the SCIAC. The win puts La Verne solely in fifth place and a half game behind fourth place Cal Lutheran. The Leopards are in a good spot heading into their final two games.

They'll host second place Chapman (10-4 SCIAC) on Friday and then travel to face third place Pomona-Pitzer (9-4 SCIAC) on Saturday. If the Leopards handle their business on the court they should find themselves in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.

Stat Leaders

Kelsie Sievers had one of her best offensive games this season. The senior led all players with 18 kills with an outstanding .447 hitting percentage. Also continuing her hot streak was setter Madison Maynes. The junior totaled 47 assists, tied for the second most in her career, and added 11 digs and nine kills. 

Katelyn Winiecki came in big for La Verne adding 12 kills on .385 hitting. Kristen Sanchez finished with 17 digs and also dished out six assists. Sabrina Sullivan put down three aces and Briana Voght added six kills. La Verne hit .367 in the third set and .55 in the fouth.

The Poets were led by Makenzie Thieme's 14 kills.

How it Happened

The Leopards caught fire late in the first set to take the opening lead. After falling behind 22-20, Sievers put down back-to-back kills to even the score. Darrah Jones and Voght stepped up next, teaming up to block Franki Piloto's attack. Two more attack errors by the Poets wrapped up the 5-0 run for La Verne.

Whittier responded in the second, taking the frame in extra points. Then it was La Verne again surging late in the third set, this time ending on a 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back aces from Sullivan to give La Verne the 2-1 edge.

La Verne dominated in the fourth set, leading by as many as eight points on their way to the win.

Next Game

The Leopards will celebrate Senior Night in a brief pregame ceremony before their 7 p.m. match-up against Chapman this Friday in The Tents.