Box Score By Ryan Graff
Sports Information
LOS ANGELES — On the ropes and down 2-0 against Cal Lutheran at Rush Gymnasium on Friday night, the Occidental College volleyball team (8-4, 2-2 SCIAC) got a spark from
Alyssa Mort in game three.
The senior middle hit .524 and racked up 11 kills in the match, eight of which came in the final set as the Tigers were swept by the No. 5 Regals.
"I think we hit really well today because their block is their weakest part," Mort said. "I think we fought back hard, but we still need to believe more."
Solid performances from outside hitters Kylie McLogan and Allie Eason, last season's SCIAC Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, allowed the Regals to dominate the Tigers on both sides of the court. McLogan recorded a match-high 16 kills to go along with 10 digs, while Eason had 12 kills and was a force on her service attempts.
Meanwhile, the Tigers hit –.069 on their way to a first set 25-12 loss and raised their percentage to just .097 after giving up the second set 25-16. But the black and orange started to hit their stride, raising their percentage over .200 and surrendering the decisive third set by just two points.
"The key for us is that we did get better," Occidental head coach Heather Collins said. "We know we need to start out on a more positive note and just come out aggressive from the get go so it will enable us to be more steady throughout the match and not have to play catch up too much. But, the way we battled in that third game was just tremendous, and it didn't go our way in the end, but we didn't give up."
Second Team All-SCIAC libero Madyson Cassidy led the way for Oxy on the defensive end with 11 digs while senior setter Jessie Altman battled through a hand injury to post a match-high 28 assists. Sophomore standout Dana Michels was a presence from the outside, knocking down a team-high 13 kills to go along with seven digs.
"We knew that we had nothing to lose and they had everything to lose," Michels said. "They had a lot to prove and so did we. And that third game we really turned it on and some of ours hitters really turned it on, like Mort came in and kind of put the team on her back and carried us through. I think that we just showed that we can hang and can play with the number five team in the country, and that's huge. There's no reason that we can't beat all these teams in SCIAC."
The Tigers travel to Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday night at 6 p.m. before returning home to Rush Gymnasium on Oct. 4 to host CMS at 7:30 p.m.
