THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - There is a reason why Cal Lutheran and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps are both ranked in the Top-25 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll and each squad showed it tonight. At the Gilbert Arena in the 2013 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Tournament Semifinals matches No. 24 CMS upset second seeded Pomona-Pitzer 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21) in the first match before No. 3 Cal Lutheran earned a convincing 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-13) victory over Chapman in the nightcap.
Semifinal One - CMS 3, PP 1
In the first game of the tournament the Athenas and Sagehens played a pretty evenly matched set that included a number of long rallies. CMS took an 11-7 lead mid-way through and it was not until the Athenas reeled off five consecutive points to break a 20-20 tie that they opened their largest lead of the game and clinched the set.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps used that late first set surge to their advantage in the second, clearly controlling the pace of play. The Athenas pushed as much as a nine point gap and at 19-10 Pomona-Pitzer head coach Val Cowan was forced to use a timeout. It was CMS that benefitted from that brief break, however, closing out the second set with the final two points after earning an 11-point advantage at 23-12.
Pomona-Pitzer took its first lead of the day when Allie Frappier served for an 8-7 lead and the Sagehens never trailed throughout the remainder of the third game, though CMS pulled within one at 17-16. After another PP timeout, the Sagehens earned back-to-back points and went on to score the final three of the set to steal the third and cut their match deficit in half.
Just as CMS did in the second set, Pomona-Pitzer used the momentum from their win to take an early 7-2 lead in the fourth game. As CMS chipped back into things, the teams exchanged points during the middle of the game until the Athenas broke a 14-14 tie to regain control of the contest. The lead was as much as seven at 22-15 as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (24-5) cruised to the 25-21 final, eliminating Pomona-Pitzer (20-8) and moving on to the SCIAC Post Season Tournament title match.
Leading the way for CMS tonight was Audrey Breitweiser with a match-high 18 kills. Nicole Kerkhof totaled 14 and Hillary Bruegl handed out a match-best 50 assists. Tanner Hoke had a pair of aces. Defensively, Megan Coleman recorded 26 digs to lead all players and Monica Nguyen was responsible for two of the four block assists on the day for the Athenas.
For Pomona-Pitzer, Frappier, the SCIAC Player of the Year, had an off night, hitting at just a .080 clip with 16 kills in 75 swings with 10 errors, though she led the team with both three service aces and 23 digs. Michelle Schultz also hit double figures with 10 kills. Splitting time doing the setting, Dani Kritter and Elizabeth Sun each handed out 17 assists. Beth Smilkstein, Schultz and Sun finished with 17, 15 and 11 digs, respectively. Kirea Mazzolini was responsible for the only solo block of the match, adding six block assists to lead all players at the net.
Semifinal Two - CLU 3, CU 0
Cal Lutheran (29-1) came out fired up in front of a loud and rowdy crowd, breaking a 10-10 tie and stealing the momentum in the opening set. The Regals led by as many as eight and use a mix of solid offense and defense to earn the first set win.
With a lot of great rallies in the second set, CLU and CU each had their swings of controlling the pace. A pair of Allie Eason service aces followed by a block gave the Violet and Gold an 8-6 lead, but the Panthers came back with a block of their own to knot the teams at 9-9. Once the Regals went up 11-10 they never looked back, opening an advantage of eight at 23-15, ultimately winning by nine.
During the third and decisive game, Nicki Tetherow came up with a pancake dig and Eason killed it on a set from Jackie Russell giving CLU a 15-9 lead, forcing CU head coach Mary Cahill to use a timeout. While the Panthers broke the huddle to score the next two points, the Regals resumed the momentum with a Caitlin Fransen and Hayley Tamagni roof block that forced another Panthers timeout at 21-12. CLU cruised to the 25-13 final, locking up a spot in the title match, while Chapman's season came to a close.
Leading the way for the Regals were Eason and Kylie McLogan with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Eason added three aces. Pua Mo'okini-Oliveira chipped in with eight kills and Lauren Rohach was consistent as usual with six on 11 swings for a .545 hitting percentage. Russell handed out 28 assists and Jena Chavez came off the bench for eight. Tetherow shared a match-high with 13 digs as Eason and McLogan finished with eight apiece. Tamagni was a nuisance at the net for the Panthers, tallying eight block assists and Kennedy Peters had two of the three solo blocks with McLogan adding one.
Chapman (17-12) hit a meager .011 as a unit, recording just 19 kills as a team as Michelle Hammer led the attack with six. Corrine Ostrovsky dished out 14 assists and also led the team with 13 digs. Val Geiger had and Kat Marusich each had a solo stop for the Panthers.
On Saturday the two remaining teams will play for the SCIAC Post Season Tournament title at 6:00 p.m. in the Gilbert Arena. The tournament champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament. Regional play is set for Nov. 15-17 with the NCAA Division III National Championships scheduled at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Mich. from Nov. 21-23.
Tickets and t-shirts will be sold in the lobby of the Gilbert Arena. Children under the age of 12, current students, faculty and staff with ID receive free admittance. Admission for all others is $5 per day. T-shirts are priced at $15 (short sleeves) and $20 (long sleeves). Doors will open at 5:00 p.m.
Tournament Central: 2013 SCIAC Post Season Volleyball Tournament
Box Score: CMS 3, PP 1
Box Score: CLU 3, CU 0
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