Story by Sebastían Abdón Ibarra

LOS ANGELES — The University of La Verne Leopards battled in their conference opener but didn't get the result they wanted, losing an away game to Occidental College in five sets.

The Leos were up two sets to one before losing the fourth set and falling two points short in the final set.

It was the Kari Esseff show as she stepped up big for the Leos with 15 kills and an impressive .417 kill percentage. Esseff also added six solo blocks for god measure. Noelani Soma was tied for second on the team with 10 kills and she added 13 digs as well. The setter duo of Emily Heldenbrand and Jordyn Patton totaled 23 and 19 assists respectively. It was an especially welcome performance from Patton who saw her first action since September 3.

After losing the first set to the Tigers by just three points, the Leopards responded by winning the next two sets. In the second, La Verne battled from a 17-15 deficit and went on a 10-6 run aided by key kills from Ayana Mier and Jasmine Chandler. Mier ended the game with seven kills and four blocks with Chandler contributing four kills and four blocks.

Occidental responded in the fourth set as they took a 17-11 lead and held on to force the fifth set. La Verne would fight hard in the final set but just fell a little short losing 15-13.

Lizzy Kerman, Skye Garcia, and Theresa Nevins were the leading scorers for Occidental with 14, 11, and 10 kills respectively. Kat Chodaczek would be the offense's engine with 35 assists.

Next Game

The Leopards look to bounce back and collect their first conference win of the new year on Friday at home against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 7:00 pm. The Athenas enter the matched ranked No. 2 in the country.