WHITTIER — Less than 24 hours before its biggest match of the season, the Occidental College women's volleyball team made quick work of Whittier College in three sets, 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 on the road at Dave Jacobs Court on Friday.

Alyssa Mort (Tucson, Ariz.) set the tone, putting away eight kills on her first nine attempts. Mort was a perfect 4 for 4 in Game 1 and led the Tigers (9-2, 2-1 SCIAC) with 12 kills on the match.

"It started with the defense. When the defense gets the ball to Jessie Altman (La Jolla) it makes it easy," Mort said of her team's accurate passing to its starting setter. "I think that all of our hitters were up every time so the defense had to stay on its toes and it gave me a lot of holes on the block."

The efficient hitting was contagious in Game 1 and throughout the entire match.

In the first set, Kasey Rose (Los Olivos) went 4 for 7, Aly Fritz (South Pasadena) went 2 for 3 and Oxy hit .323 as a team on the evening.

Mort hit .647 and Stephanie Gann (Tacoma, Wash.) hit .471 with 10 kills.

Whittier's Alyssa Sialaris led the match with 16 kills and Altman had a match-high 21 assists.

The Tigers have only lost five sets in their last seven matches, picking up six wins during the stretch that dates back to Sept. 2.

On Saturday night, Oxy hopes to mimic its Friday-night showing and continue its recent hot streak. The Tigers host No. 8 Cal Lutheran at 6 p.m. in Rush Gymnasium in their home opener and a rematch of last year's SCIAC Tournament Championship game. Oxy won in five sets in Thousand Oaks and took two of three from the Regals (10-3, 2-0) in 2011.

But Oxy was able to keep that match in the back of their minds and the Poets (6-5, 1-2 SCIAC) at the front on Friday.

"Our main theme has been that we are going to play one day at a time, one match at a time," Occidental coach Heather Collins said. "We did a great job of focusing on that tonight, being as disciplined as possible, and capitalized in the long rallies."

It also didn't hurt to win in three and the Tigers will need the fresh legs against the Regals.

"Now, going into tomorrow night, having not played a long match tonight, we will be able to work on our game plan and put forth our best effort with fresh bodies," Collins said.