PASADENA, Calif. (Sept. 18, 2021) – Caltech volleyball swept a doubleheader as Head Coach Tom Gardner worked everyone into the lineup in three-set wins over Mills College and West Coast Baptist College on Saturday morning.

Highlights abounded for the now 5-3 Beavers in dominant victories as Gardner rotated the entire roster each set to get many players their most significant action of the young season with the rigors of conference play looming. Match script heavily favored the hitters as sophomore Claire Perhach (Carlsbad, Calif. / Sage Creek) and senior Alison Noyes (Falmouth, Maine / Falmouth) were absolutely dominant parts of the rotation up front, with Perhach smacking a team-best seven kills in each match and Noyes registering a singe-day record .818 hitting percentage with a combined nine kills on 11 attacks without an error. The Beavers also served up a modern-record 22 aces in the win over Mills to open the tri-match.

In the first set of the day, Caltech jumped out to a quick lead and fended off a brief Cyclones spurt before blowing it out with 19 of the final 20 points scored, including 14 straight with senior Isabell Yang (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) serving six of her match-best seven aces (four combing in a row). The second set showed more of the same with strong blocking leading to an 8-1 edge, though Mills would rattle off four straight points to pull back within three. A series of three- and four-point runs where neither team could gain much momentum still allowed Caltech to close the set out comfortably, as Noyes took charge with several massive kills, 1.5 blocks and four aces of her own.

Mills found a groove in the third set, storming out to a 5-2 lead and hanging in through 7-6 before surrendering it on an eight-point run marred by Cyclones attacking and serve-receive errors. The teams more or less traded points from there through the end with sophomores Gabriella Twombly (Weston, Fla. / Archbishop McCarthy) and Helen Brackney (Aurora, Colo. / Regis Jesuit) notching a career-high five and three kills, respectively, and senior Hannah Fan (Saratoga, Calif. / Saratoga) making nine digs and smacking five kills without an error. Sophomore setters Carolyn Lu (Saratoga, Calif. / The Harker School) and Madeleine Shao (San Jose, Calif. / Lynbrook) enjoyed their most extended run of the season, with Lu contributing four aces and six digs in two sets and Shao making her debut with her first career kill and five asissts.

The nightcap played out similarly, though West Coast Baptist did catch Caltech shaking off the 3.5-hour break with a 4-0 start. The Beavers immediately asserted themselves with a commanding 13-2 run and carried the momentum through for big early leads in the remaining two sets for the decisive victory. Yang had the best all-around match in this one for Caltech with eight digs and five kills on her second-best hitting percentage of the season at .308. Sophomore Halle Blend (Farmers Branch, Texas / Hockaday) was crucial in jumpstarting the team in the first and her only set, dishing up 12 assists while Lu made seven digs in two sets of relief work and Twombly added a career-high 1.5 blocks.

Head Coach Tom Gardner and the Beavers open conference play on Friday, Sept. 24 hosting the University of Redlands at 7 p.m.