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Volleyball dumps Occidental in 3

Sophomore outside hitter Amy Brummel (#4) denies an attempt from Occidental to get back in the match last Tuesday night as junior middle blocker Isa Lose (#13) closes the angle. La Verne won the match in three games, 15-7, 15-5, 15-12. / photo by Ian Gratz
Sophomore outside hitter Amy Brummel (#4) denies an attempt from Occidental to get back in the match last Tuesday night as junior middle blocker Isa Lose (#13) closes the angle. La Verne won the match in three games, 15-7, 15-5, 15-12. / photo by Ian Gratz

by Ryan Allen
Arts & Entertainment Editor

With the season more than halfway over, the University of La Verne women’s volleyball team has become more focused on obtaining a crucial goal – a post-season berth.

Last Saturday, ULV played host to the No. 1 team in the region, Cal Lutheran, a team which just one week earlier scored only seven points total in a match. Even though the Leopards lost, 15-6, 15-12, 15-11, they took plenty of positive things with them from that match, Don Flora, ULV head coach, said.

“We had our best match of the season against Cal Lu last week, in a losing effort, but we played great,” said Flora. “Our intensity was high, our technical aspects of the game were very solid and we were in each game. Our competition level was much higher, a level we need to be at.”

On Tuesday, La Verne set its sights on the visiting Occidental College Tigers. With the motivation of playing like a team determined to make playoffs, the Leopards blasted the Tigers, 15-7, 15-5, and 15-12, in a match that only lasted a little more than an hour.

ULV jumped out to an early lead in the first game, which set the pace for the rest of the match. Thanks to tough serves on the part of the Leopards, which included three aces in a row by sophomore outside hitter Kim Bell, Occidental made errors that allowed La Verne to cruise through the match. Bell finished the match with five aces, five kills and four digs.

The second game was much like the first, as ULV jumped ahead, 4-2, and never looked back. La Verne outscored the Tigers, 11-3, as ULV’s tough serving once again caused almost all Occidental’s errors. Junior middle blocker Allison Moore, who finished the night with three solo-blocks and two aces, put the nail in the coffin in the second game by coming up with the game-winning block.

The third game was a bit more competitive, as the Tigers led almost the entire match. La Verne seemed to fall apart, until the tough ULV serving brought them back, and the Leopards eventually tied the game, 12-12. After that, the Leopards finished out the third game and the match, which took only one hour and 10 minutes to complete entirely.

“It’s just the kind of game where we can show how good we really are,” Moore said after the Occidental match.

“A month ago we weren’t even near as good as we are right now,” said sophomore outside hitter Amy Brummel. “Our game tonight, we put them away in three, and that is what we need to keep doing. We have to prove ourselves for playoffs.”

“It shows we can make progress in our play,” said Flora, whose team improved to 8-15 overall and 5-3 in SCIAC. “It is also nice because we had an opportunity to play well and get everybody in the match.”

Ryan Allen, Arts Editor
Ryan Allen
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