Volleyball rolls over Master's in 3
Campus Times
October 3, 1997
Their shoes were laced and their focus was on the match at hand, as
the University of La Verne women's volleyball team came out Friday and beat
Master's College in straight sets, 15-6, 15-12 and 15-9.
"Our attack was very balanced," said head coach Jim Paschal.
"We were playing on a familiar court and that always helps."
The tempo of the game was fast, and the Leopards were the reason. La
Verne had a new look lineup, and it worked to its advantage.
"I was confident in our sideout game," said senior setter
Mercury Simonian, who led the match with 32 assists.
The Leopards had all of their best passers in at all times, which helped
their offense tremendously.
"You can run more in the middle when the passing is on," said
sophomore middle blocker Allison Moore, who contributed with two solo blocks
and one block assist. Moore also had six kills on only seven attempts.
The Leopards played with more confidence and, when Masters would press
the Leopards, they would not fold as they were prone to doing in the last
few matches.
Sarah Henry had an outstanding game especially since this was one of
her first games at middle blocker this season.
"I am just starting to get comfortable at middle," said Henry,
who led the team with three solo blocks and two block assists. Henry was
also tied for the lead in kills with Lynsey Best with 14. Henry's .933 hitting
percentage was tops in the match and continues to be tops on the team.
"We are playing as a team and everything is coming together,"
said senior outside hitter Jill Seaton, who led the Leopards with six digs.
Seaton also had 10 kills with only one hitting error.
The Leopards hit .623 as a team which is a testament to the teams passing.
Seven out of the eight people who touched the court had a hitting percentage
of .400 or better. The Leopards also had more digs than Masters, 23-15.
La Verne played solid against Master's, but on Wednesday against league
rival Pomona-Pitzer, the Leopards fell off their level of consistency when
they lost in three games, 12-15, 9-15 and 10-15.
"We were frustrated," said Moore. "We knew we could have
beaten them if we had played to our potential." Moore contributed to
La Verne's effort with seven kills and four block assists.
"I was disappointed," said Paschal. "Not too often do
our teams play well in that building."
Pomona-Pitzer's head coach stressed to Paschal how well her team played
against the Leopards. Pomona-Pitzer's coach said that it was the best they
had played all year.
The Leopards came out flat, but in the first game they were actually
up by five points late in the game, but they eventually folded and allowed
Pomona-Pitzer to take the first set 15-12.
"We were just going through the motions," said Henry who tried
to lift the Leopards effort with 10 kills and two assist blocks.
As a team, the Leopards played solid against Masters, but against Pomona-Pitzer
the team fell apart when it had a chance to pull away.
The teams serving was not good. There were a lot more errors than aces
and when that happens points are at a minimum.
One of the highlights of the night was the passing of freshman outside
hitter Amy Brummel.
"We got to double digits and we didn't finish," said assistant
coach Don Flora. "Allison Moore played a good game offensively and
Amy Brummel passed nails."
Simonian led the Leopards with 27 assists, and she also had a couple
of digs.
The Leopards' overall hitting percentage was nowhere near as good against
Pomona-Pitzer as it was against Masters. They hit a dismal .102 as a team.
"We played really flat against Pomona, but I respect the head coach
and I feel like they did a good job against us," said Paschal.
The Leopards will attempt to redeem themselves against a very tough
Cal Lutheran team at home tonight at 7:30. This match against Cal Lutheran
has more than just your regular league play implications. Cal Lutheran has
a chance to break La Verne's Southern California Intercolligiate Athletic
Conference (SCIAC) winning streak.
Although the Leopards dropped their first league game of the season,
La Verne has key match ups against tough SCIAC competitors in the near future.
The Leopards will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at
home, travel to Redlands on Oct. 10 and look forward to a tough match-up
against the Whittier Poets at home on Tuesday Oct.14.
