WHITTIER, Calif. – The Caltech volleyball team headed to the Graham Athletic Center to face the Whittier College Poets, putting up a commendable effort against a formidable opponent.

The Poets came out swinging in the first set and the Beavers' first kill came off the hand of Alize Bakker for her team's fourth point, cutting Whittier's advantage to 9-4. However, the home side later recovered with a seven-point scoring run to rack up a 10-point lead, and Caltech just ran out of time to come back as Whittier claimed the first set with a 25-16 score.

The two teams traded points for the first four rallies of the second set, and then each team took six of the next twelve to tie the score at 8-8. The Poets strung together a seven-point run for a 16-11 lead, but Caltech tied it up late after a five-point run of their own, bookended by kills from Marissa Till tied the set at 21-21. Unfortunately the Poets would take four of the next five rallies and win their second set 25-22.

Caltech held pace with Whittier in the third set as neither team managed to gain more than a two-point lead until it was 19-16 in favor of the Beavers after a Celine Wu service ace. Whittier replied with a seven-point run to lead 22-10, but Caltech tied it back up at 22 and then evaded two match points to tie the set 24-24. Whititer, however, had the last word and put away the match with a 26-24 set win.

Till and Sophia Parker each contributed eight kills and a service ace, as Parker led the team with .286 hitting. Giulia Murgia led in the assists column with 15, and Wu led both teams on defense with a match-high 19 digs.

Caltech has split each season's head-to-head records with Whittier since 2019, so the Beavers will look to get even again in the rematch at home on Oct. 21.

Head Coach Tom Gardner and the Beavers return home next Friday, Oct. 6 to host the Chapman University Panthers. Find live stats and video information at https://gocaltech.com/coverage.