by Chrissy Zehrbach
Sports Editor
It was a historic night for the University of La Verne women’s volleyball team in the Supertents on Tuesday as it broke the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference consecutive win record with its 25th straight conference win with a victory over Whittier, 3-1.
“It’s a tribute to the 2001, 2002 and 2003 teams that we can show up every night and compete with everybody in our conference,” said head coach Don Flora. “This is something to be very proud of.”
The consecutive win record of 24 had only been accomplished once by La Verne in the late 1980’s and twice by California Lutheran University in the 1990s. ULV tied the record Sept. 23 when they swept Occidental College, 3-0. The Leopards have not lost a conference game since mid-2000 when they were defeated by, coincidentally, Occidental.
“It’s great because we’re the first ones to do it,” said Mandy Sedia, middle blocker. “It’s a great accomplishment.”
The win over Whittier provided another milestone for the Leopards. It extended ULV’s SCIAC home court winning streak to 25 consecutive matches.
The Leopards got off to a slow start in the match, dropping the first game, 30-27, to the Poets.
“We had a little mental collapse in the first game, but we picked it up the next three games and finished strong,” Sedia said.
The team soon got back in its rhythm and took the next three games 30-20, 30-10 and 30-26 to claim the come-from-behind victory in four games.
“It was a decisive win,” Flora said. “We need to be a little more crisp and a little more focused, but it was a nice win to set the record.”
Middle blocker Tricia Schary and outside hitter Amy Smith led the team in kills, tallying 15 and 17, respectively, for hitting percentages of .556 and .577 against the Poets.
Smith also recorded nine defensive digs in the contest, as did setter Leslie Flores.
As a team, the Leopards’ hitting percentage was .349 on the evening while their opponents were held to .000.
The weekend prior to the Whittier match, the Leopards competed in the Wild West Shootout at Cal State Hayward, where they went 3-1 and took second place.
ULV defeated Gallaudet University 3-0 (30-28, 30-15, 30-22), Elmhurst College 3-1 (31-29, 30-21, 23-30, 30-16) and UC Santa Cruz 3-0 (30-14, 30-17, 30-24), falling only to their regional rival, Hayward 3-2 (28-30, 32-34, 30-25, 30-28, 9-15).
“It was an intense five games just going all out,” said Amanda Thomas, setter. “The scores were so close each game, either team could have pulled it out. We just made too many mistakes – more than they did.”
This blemish on ULV’s record serves only as a learning experience for the Leopards, who are not letting it hold them back.
“It was a little hard to swallow, but we learned from our mistakes,” Sedia said. “I’m more than positive if we face them again, we’ll beat them.”
The Leopards are not scheduled to face Hayward again until regional competition.
“We’re going to have to see them again wherever we are and that’s what we’re looking forward to,” Flora said. “It has become a regional rivalry, a very healthy, competitive rivalry.”
“We’ll see them again when it counts,” Thomas said.
ULV and Hayward are two of the top teams in the Western Region. ULV outranks Hayward (No. 5) at the No. 3 position. This weekend’s match could have determined who hosts the regional tournament. Hayward now holds the advantage.
But Flora is positive that there is still a chance. The National Collegiate Athletic Association makes that decision at the end of the season based on rankings and the availability of facilities.
Three Leopards were named to the All-Tournament team in Hayward. Schary, Smith and Jennifer Stout, libero, were all honored for their performances over the weekend.
Offensively, Schary hit over .400 in all four contests. Her top hitting percentages for the weekend were .600 and .643 against Santa Cruz and Gallaudet.
Schary was also named SCIAC Female Athlete of the week for the week ending Sept. 24. She is the second women’s volleyball player to do so this season Smith received the honor on Sept. 10.
ULV’s intense schedule is nowhere near slowing down. The Leopards have nine games slated for the next week, including conference competition as well as a tournament in Atlanta.
Luckily the injuries that have been holding players back are healing and the Leopards are getting back to full force.
“Everybody is healed and healthy, now it’s just about getting back to big game speed,” Flora said. “We have to balance our rest and recovery with the need to train and execute our systems.”
ULV is now 11-1 overall, 3-0 in SCIAC. With their undefeated SCIAC record, the Leopards claim the lead in the race for the conference title.
ULV will look to extend its consecutive win record and set the bar even higher when they travel to the University of Redlands at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
