SportsVolleyball

Leopards move to No. 20 in nation

Junior setter Tiffany Mancuso sets up the ball for senior outside hitter Ashlyn Cross against Pomona-Pitzer sophomore setter Jessica Finn Friday at Frantz Athletic Court. Despite winning the first two sets with a score of 25-19 and 25-19, Pomona-Pitzer responded with a win, 25-21. La Verne answered back in the fourth set, to seal the win. The Leopards won, 3-1, to extend their win streak to seven. They went on to win two games Saturday, extending their win streak to nine./ Photo by Karla Rendon
Junior setter Tiffany Mancuso sets up the ball for senior outside hitter Ashlyn Cross against Pomona-Pitzer sophomore setter Jessica Finn Friday at Frantz Athletic Court. Despite winning the first two sets with a score of 25-19 and 25-19, Pomona-Pitzer responded with a win, 25-21. La Verne answered back in the fourth set, to seal the win. The Leopards won, 3-1, to extend their win streak to seven. They went on to win two games Saturday, extending their win streak to nine. / photo by Karla Rendon

Lauren Harchut
Staff Writer

The La Verne volleyball team extended its winning streak to nine after defeating Pomona-Pitzer, 3-1, Caltech, 3-0 and Austin College, 3-1, this weekend at Frantz Athletic Court. The Leopards are now ranked No. 20 in the nation.

Head coach Jenna Panatier said she thinks the winning streak is helping the team keep its energy high in the games.

“I think that energy is learned and it’s experienced and the more you experience it, the better you are at maintaining it and creating it if you need it,” she said.

Up two sets to one after losing the third set to Pomona-Pitzer Friday, the Leopards closed out the match with a win in a back-and-forth fourth set.

Energy levels were high during the nail-biting final set as both teams struggled to take a strong lead. Senior outside hitter Ashlyn Cross broke an 18-18 tie with a kill.

The bleachers were rattling, as Cross sealed the match with another kill, giving the Leopards a 25-23 victory.

The fourth set was Cross’ best of the night. She tallied a total of eight kills.

In the first set, the Leopards took six of the first seven points of the match. The team led by as many as nine during the set.

Still, the Sagehens fought back with a late 6-2 run. But that was no match for senior outside hitter Brittany Yaxley and junior middle blocker Kelsi Robinson.

The duo answered back with consecutive kills to finish off the set, 25-19.

The second set was closer than the first, with the Sagehens taking a 17-14 lead on a service error.

The Leopards shook off the deficit and came back on a 6-2 run, along with kills from Cross, senior right side hitter Destinee Sales and Yaxley.

Things got shaky for the Leopards as they fell behind early in the third set after Sagehens freshman outside hitter Sophie Janssen’s three consecutive kills.

The Sagehens took the set, 25-21.

“To prepare we worked on the simple things while maintaining focus on the mentality of the plays,” Panatier said.

Panatier said the team needed to work on their discipline to stay in system for Saturday’s games, and they did.

La Verne players were not available to comment.

The Leopards had a non-tournament doubleheader Saturday.

The team took on Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent Caltech in the first match.

La Verne had an easy sweep against Caltech, winning 25-9, 25-7 and 25-9.

Yaxley had a big game with nine kills and four aces along with freshman libero Sara Yauchzee, who had a match-high total of 10 digs.

The Leopards had 15 aces throughout the match and a .420 hitting percentage.

Saturday night’s match against Austin at Frantz Athletic Court went into four sets, with the Leopards winning 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-19.

La Verne extended its winning streak to nine.

Sales had a season-high 14 kills and freshman libero Kristen Sanchez had a total of 29 digs.

La Verne is now 13-2 overall and 8-1 in SCIAC play.

The Leopards take on UC Santa Cruz and No. 2 Juniata, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at Frantz Athletic Court for the Leopard Invitational.

Lauren Harchut can be reached at lauren.harchut@laverne.edu.

Lauren Harchut
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