LOS ANGELES – Another trio of strong front row performances kept Caltech volleyball in a tight four-set match at Occidental College on Saturday night.

Senior middle Alison Noyes (Falmouth, Maine / Falmouth), junior Dallas Taylor (Phoenix, Ariz. / Saguaro) and sophomore Claire Perhach (Carlsbad, Calif. / Sage Creek) were nothing short of dominant at the net all night, combing for 41 of the team's 52 kills on a fantastic .416 hitting percentage, with the former two also adding 12 block assists. Caltech actually out-hit Occidental, .293-.196, but a 22-point gap in serve-receive made the difference in the Tigers' close 3-1 victory.

The Beavers jumped out to a narrow 8-5 lead in the first set, but the hosts soon notched four unanswered points and another seven straight shortly after to surge ahead, 18-11. After closing out that set, Oxy traded points until midway through the second before again rattling off an 8-2 run for a 19-13 edge. This time, Caltech dug in to fight back furiously, scoring six straight points courtesy of brilliant setting by sophomore Halle Blend (Farmers Branch, Texas / Hockaday) to pull even at 22-22 and held on for the match-tying win.

Yet again in the third, following an early Caltech advantage, Oxy rode a 7-2 difference and another four straight points to a six-point lead at 22-16. The Beavers pulled back within two before falling behind 2-1 in the match and were unable to keep up in the fourth and final set, going down 25-19.

Blend tallied 45 assists for her third straight match with an average per set above 10.0 and notched her sixth double-double of the year with 10 digs, while senior Megan Wang (Henderson, Nev. / Advanced Tech. Acad.) bounced back with 27 digs. Seniors Isabell Yang (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) and Hannah Fan (Saratoga, Calif. / Saratoga) added 15 an 11 digs, respectively, with Fan also smacking three kills and tallying an ace alongside Wang.

Head Coach Tom Gardner and the Beavers host national No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.