LOS ANGELES –  Caltech women's volleyball outlasted the Occidental Tigers on the road after four close sets Tuesday night in a rivalry bout to remember.  

"I am so proud of how hard the team has worked on the practice court the past week and the way they executed our game plan," Head Coach Tom Gardner said. 

Neither team scored fewer than 22 points in any set, and the second and third set each broke the 25-point barrier before they could be decided.  

Junior outside hitter Marissa Till (Woodinville, Wash. / Woodinville) led the Beavers in efficiency, racking up nine kills at a .240 clip. First-year Rena Zhang (Peoria, Ill. / Dunlap High School) led all attackers with a career-high 18 kills, including a right-handed swing on the left side for the match winner in the fourth set.  

Caltech was able to convert out-of-system balls into points on Tuesday, as sophomore Stephanie Wallen (Miami, Fla. / Ransom Everglades), senior Giulia Murgia (Iglesias, Italy / Istituto di Istruzione Superiore G. Asproni) and sophomore Ailsa Shen (Calgary, Alberta / Western Canada HS) each recorded at least six assists. The trio combined for 51 assists on the night as Shen led both teams with 35 helpers.  

First-year Veda Chennupati (Collierville, Tenn. / Collierville High School) led all players with four blocks. She added seven kills on the night from the middle blocker position despite being listed as an outside hitter, demonstrating her versatility.  

Sophomore Alize Bakker (Portland, Ore. / Westview) extended her program record in single-season kills with 12 more on Tuesday, marking the 18th time she has recorded at least 10 kills this year. She now has 267 kills on the year.  

"Everyone stepped up and fought for each other to earn that win," Gardner said. "We had the right mindset and weren't going to let it slip away." 

Caltech returns home Friday Nov. 7 to face Chapman University in Braun Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.  

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