PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Volleyball took on Pomona-Pitzer Tuesday night in a highly-anticipated SCIAC match and came away with an enthralling 3-2 victory.
After the Sagehens took the opening set, Caltech found its rhythm in the second, winning 25-16 while hitting .308 as a team. The Beavers caught fire with an 11-2 run, surging ahead to an 18-7 lead. Caltech then battled through a back-and-forth third set, using a 6-0 run to take an 18-14 lead on the serve of first-year
Melody Xue (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley HS) and a 6-0 run to the 25-20 set point, with senior
Juniper Schwartzman (Galesburg, Ill. / Galesburg HS) serving the final five points of the set.
The decisive fifth set stayed tight until the end. Trailing 12-14 and facing match point, the Beavers scored the final four points of the match on kills from junior
Noelle Wilkinson (Bentonville, Ark. / Thaden School), senior
Alize Bakker (Portland, Ore. / Westview), Xue and senior
Marissa Till (Woodinville, Wash. / Woodinville High School) to win it 16-14, sending the Braun GymnasiumÂ
"I am so proud of our women for the fight and resilience that they showed throughout the match, and grit they displayed in coming back and finishing the match," Head Coach
Tom Gardner said. "It was the first time we have played with a near complete roster and every player stepped up and did her part. There isn't a harder working group of women and to see the fruits of their efforts is so rewarding."
Bakker led the Beavers with a match highs of 19 points and three aces along with her tied team-high of 16 kills. Wilkinson also finished with 16 kills, and Till added nine. Xue totaled nine points on six kills, two aces and a solo block. Sophomore
Veda Chennupati (Collierville, Tenn. / Collierville High School) tallied eight points on seven kills and a solo block, and sophomore
Rena Zhang (Peoria, Ill. / Dunlap High School) added two aces as Caltech served nine aces as a team.
Up next for Head Coach
Tom Gardner and the Beavers is a road match against the La Verne Leopards on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
Follow Caltech Women's Volleyball on
GoCaltech.com and on
Instagram. Watch all home and SCIAC matches live on
FloCollege.
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