SportsVolleyball

Leopards drop Santa Cruz, Clarke College

Junior outside hitter Chris Peterson spikes the ball over the net while junior middle hitter Jason Flick and senior setter Morgan Coberly anticipate the block. The hard spike was enough to give La Verne a side out against Loyola of Chicago but not enough to win the match, as the Leopards went down in straight sets on Monday. / photo by Scott Harvey
Junior outside hitter Chris Peterson spikes the ball over the net while junior middle hitter Jason Flick and senior setter Morgan Coberly anticipate the block. The hard spike was enough to give La Verne a side out against Loyola of Chicago but not enough to win the match, as the Leopards went down in straight sets on Monday. / photo by Scott Harvey

by Damien Alarcon
Staff Writer

Impressive statistics resulted from last weekend’s domination, as the La Verne men’s volleyball team traveled to the University of California, Santa Cruz to defeat Santa Cruz, 15-10, 15-13, 13-15 and 15-4, and Clarke College, 15-10, 15-11 and 15-10, in the UCSC Slug Dome.

With an attendance of 287 at hand, freshman outside hitter Alex Lienert led the leopards to victory over UC Santa Cruz. Lienert, who played in only two of the four games, hit .400 and connected on 22 of the 35 attempts.

Senior outside hitter Ryan Allen had 13 kills and junior outside hitter Chris Peterson had 11.

Senior middle blocker Jason Flick also helped the team with eight kills and 12 total blocks. Senior setter Morgan Coberly also had 67 assists to add to the Leopards arsenal.

On Saturday against Clarke, Allen and Peterson stood out in the Leopard attack. Allen hit .560 and had 22 kills, while Peterson converted on 14 of his 21 attempts, a .430 percentage; he also had six digs.

“We traveled seven hours to play a late game on Friday to beat Santa Cruz and then beat Clarke the next day,” said head coach Jack Coberly.

Beating Santa Cruz and Clarke University, brought La Verne closer to an NCAA division III playoff berth. The deciding factor for the Leopards will be on April 3 at 7 p.m., when they host the UC San Diego Tritons. If the Leopards come away with a victory, they will most likely receive a birth in the Division III playoffs.

On Monday night, the Leopards hosted Division I powerhouse Loyola University of Chicago. Loyola kept the pressure on the entire night for a 15-7, 15-6 and 15-10 sweep of the Leopards.

In the first two games, Loyola held extended leads, giving La Verne little hope for a comeback winning with scores of 15-7 and 15-6. In the second game, a flat Leopards team was stuck in a 7-0 deficit before answering.

In the third game and last chance for La Verne to stay in the match, the Leopards rose in hopes for a comeback and held the lead the entire match. The Leopards reached to a 10-5 lead, their biggest and only one of the night.

Unfortunately, the Ramblers were not willing to give the match away. They came back to win the final game of the night, 15-10.

“They were so energetically pumped for those games, because those are major matches for us, that they didn’t get up for this game,” said Coberly.

Coberly also added that his statements were not excuses for the team’s poor performance.

Petersen, who led the Leopards with 10 kills, said, “We were on an emotional low because we came off the highs of last weekend’s two big wins. Plus, we usually have an idea of what the other team is like and what they do. Here, we only knew that Loyola was a good, solid team.”

The team’s next match will be on Tuesday against George Mason University in the Supertents at 7:30 p.m.

Damien Alarcon, Sports Editor
Damien Alarcon
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Scott Harvey, Assistant Sports Editor
Scott Harvey
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