SportsVolleyball

Volleyball takes fourth straight title

Amanda Thomas (No. 10) and Jennifer Stout (No. 2) stand ready as Amy Smith (No. 5) strives to push the ball over the net leading to another point for La Verne in the first game against Redlands Tuesday night in the Supertents. La Verne won the match, 3-2, in five close games. / photo by Adam Omernik
Amanda Thomas (No. 10) and Jennifer Stout (No. 2) stand ready as Amy Smith (No. 5) strives to push the ball over the net leading to another point for La Verne in the first game against Redlands Tuesday night in the Supertents. La Verne won the match, 3-2, in five close games. / photo by Adam Omernik

by Chrissy Zehrbach
Sports Editor

With a flawless 11-0 record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the University of La Verne women’s volleyball team stands four games ahead of the competition, clinching its fourth straight conference title, with three matches still remaining.

“Our players have earned a high level of respect for their commitment to this program over the past four seasons,” head coach Don Flora said. “It’s quite a tribute to our three seniors.”

The Leopards, nationally-ranked No. 4, secured their SCIAC crown Tuesday night in the Supertents with a tough win over the University of Redlands 3-2 (30-25, 26-30, 30-11, 20-30, 15-12).

“It was a great competitive environment for SCIAC volleyball,” Flora said. “We played a little up and down, and Redlands capitalized on our inconsistency.”

Redlands (7-4) sits behind ULV in the SCIAC standings, and has proved to be one of the Leopards’ toughest conference competitors.

“It was a tough game because we didn’t execute at times when we needed to, but we pulled through at the end when it counted,” said Sara Lupu, outside hitter.

The Leopards played the match without starting outside hitter Amy Kratochvil, who was out with a sprained ankle from game one of Friday’s contest at Pomona-Pitzer.

Although Kratochvil did not compete in the contest Tuesday, she warmed up with the team before the game, and should be ready to play soon.

Over the weekend, the Leopards gained two wins on the road.

Saturday ULV defeated Whittier 3-1 (30-27, 26-30, 30-20, 30-16).

“We started out slow, but after that we stepped it up and played to our potential,” said Jennifer Stout, libero.

Friday the Leopards took a decisive victory over Pomona-Pitzer, 3-0 (30-14, 30-17, 30-18)

“We came out really strong and took care of business,” Lupu said.

Pomona-Pitzer was tied at the No. 2 conference ranking prior to the game. With the victory, ULV knocked the Sagehens down in the standings.

“We had a real balanced offense, and we played real good defense against Pomona,” Flora said.

ULV (32-2) will look to maintain their perfect record in the last three SCIAC contests of the season.

“It’s nice to know we’ve gotten through the whole conference without losing ­ it’s always nice to win,” Stout said. “We may have clinched (the title) but we still want to end up 14-0.”

The Leopards take on Cal Lutheran at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Supertents. They take their talents on the road to face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Claremont before returning home to play Caltech at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the final conference match.

“After defeating Redlands it took little weight off our shoulders,” Stout said. “It will be a good three matches to end on.”

What keeps the team going through the season, according to Flora, is that the players are focused on National Collegiate Athletic Association playoffs.

“As a team, these final four matches, we want to get better every night as we prepare for the NCAAs,” Flora said prior to the Redlands game. “We just want to fine tune our systems, fine tune our offense and defense.”

Chrissy Zehrbach, Editor in Chief
Chrissy Zehrbach
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Adam Omernik, Photography Editor
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