LOS ANGELES — Sophomore outside hitter Dana Michels entered Saturday night's volleyball match at Rush Gymnasium just five kills short of her entire season total of 112 from a year ago.

In a marquee event that slated two SCIAC semifinalists from last season against each other, she added 13 more to go along with seven digs to boost the Tigers (8-2, 2-0 SCIAC) over the Leopards 3-0, solidifying herself as the go-to outside hitter for the Tigers.

"It's huge to have [La Verne] at home and beat them in three," Michels said. "It sets a statement to the whole SCIAC about what we're about this season."

After Oxy went up 7-1 and subsequently cruised to a 25-17 victory in the first set and opened the second set 7-3, La Verne finally pressured the Tigers' offensive attack.

The Leopards took their first lead of the contest at 22-21 in the second set on the shoulders of powerhouse Brittany Yaxley, who led the way for La Verne.

Though the teams briefly swapped points, the Tigers were able to recapture the lead at 24-23.

Senior outside hitter Stephanie Gann smashed the set-winner into the middle of the La Verne defense off a desperation Leopard third hit to put the Tigers in the driver's seat 2-0. Gann recorded six kills on the night and was a constant presence on the defensive block.

"I think that the entire time we were fighting to the very end and we were all really scrappy," Gann said. "So I 100-percent trusted my team to get the balls up. I had all the confidence in the world for Jessie [Altman] to give me the set I needed. I had the fighter mentality of 'I want to finish this, and I want to finish this on a strong point.' And so, I went up and I did what I needed to do to finish the game."

Gann's kill re-ignited the Tigers' offense, allowing them to break the momentary stalemate and recapture their success from the first set.

Each time Oxy gave La Verne an opportunity to claw back into the action, ensuing Leopard errors kept the Tigers in control. The third set ended identically to the first, 25-17 as senior outside hitter Alyssa Mort hammered home the Tigers' first home SCIAC victory of the season. Mort finished the match with nine kills, five of which came in the decisive final set.

"It's a big deal for us [to win the home SCIAC opener]," Occidental head coach Heather Collins said after the contest. "Nerves can always come into play when you play at home for the first time, and I think last night was a good warm up for us. And coming in tonight was so great because they were fired up; they were ready. It didn't seem like nerves did play a part. We've got a lot of seniors on the team, so I think they took charge. And I think it was really important for us, because we lost to La Verne twice last year, to be able to take this in three."

Oxy's experience showed through the four seniors who got the starting nod from Collins. Particularly, the defensive performances of specialist Hana Hunt and libero Madyson Cassidy pleased the third-year head coach in addition to the offensive firepower. Cassidy led the squad with 15 digs while Hunt added eight. Sophomore Kandance Korver, another Occidental player whose role looks to be redefined for this season, matched Hunt's production with eight kills of her own.

Freshman middle hitter Natalie Dwulet, who has started every game for Oxy so far this season, showed veteran composure on the SCIAC stage with six kills. She also teamed up with Gann, Mort and sophomore Megan Olayinka on the block to stifle the Leopard offensive scheme.

The Tigers travel to Whittier College on Tuesday before returning home to Rush Gymnasium to host last year's SCIAC Champion Cal Lutheran next Friday at 7:30 p.m.