The University of La Verne women’s volleyball team struggled in its loss to National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics foe Azusa Pacific last Thursday at the Felix Event Center in Azusa.
The Leopards won the first game but failed to do much after that falling, 3-1 (30-24, 28-30, 18-30, 12-30).
“We have had glimpses of great volleyball and below average volleyball,” head coach Don Flora said.
The Leopards started out the match hitting .419, but struggled in the final two games as they hit -.023 and -.105. Meanwhile, the Cougars continued to improve throughout the match as they hit .300 in the final two games.
Senior middle blocker Mandy Sedia finished the match with nine kills while freshman outside hitter Brianna Gonzales had eight.
The Cougars were led by junior middle blocker Chelsea Morgan and senior outside hitter Jessica Dejager. The tandem compiled 19 and 18 kills respectively.
Junior libero Lauren Friestad tallied 17 digs while Gonzales recorded 15. La Verne finished the match with a total of 12 blocks compared to nine for the Cougars.
The Leopards suffered another loss last Friday night to Simpson (IA), 3-1 (28-30, 27-30, 30-26, 16-30).
Despite his team’s recent struggles after their first conference loss, Flora backed his squad.
“People are saying that we aren’t playing very well, but we’re still in the top 10 in the nation,” Flora said.
Sophomore opposite Jodi Lindsay had a match-high 12 kills against Simpson. Friestad led the Leopards once again with 15 digs and sophomore outside hitter Whitney Krantz added 14.
After Cal Lutheran ended the Leopards’ 56-game Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win streak, the Leopards responded well against their next conference opponent as they swept Occidental, 3-0 (30-12, 30-8, 30-13) last Tuesday in Los Angeles.
La Verne hit at a .314 percentage while Occidental hit -.074. Kranz had eight kills and hit .429 and Gonzales finished with six kills and hit .455.
Adrianna Quezada was extremely efficient against the Tigers as she hit a match high of .625.
Junior setter Leslie Flores contributed 23 set assists in the match.
“Our record isn’t as good as it has been before, but we’re working really hard and focusing on winning SCIAC,” Friestad said.
The Leopards will face Chapman in a non-conference match as part of a day-night doubleheader at 3 p.m., today at Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont.
The Leopards will complete the second part of the doubleheader in a SCIAC match against Caltech at 7:30 p.m. in Claremont as well.
Adrian Medrano can be reached at amedrano@ulv.edu.
