THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Brooke McKee had 15 kills in 29 attempts and Brenna Bell added 10 in 20 attempts as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team, ranked No. 9 in the nation, hit .340 as a team on its way to a dominant 25-14, 25-16, 25-12 win over Puget Sound on Friday on the first day of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational.

CMS improves to 5-2 on the season with the win, while Puget Sound sees its early-season record slide to 2-3. 

Georgia McGovern had 30 assists for the Athenas, improving her career total to 2,994, leaving her six shy of becoming the fourth setter in program history to reach 3000 in a career. Dede Carranza led the defense with 17 digs and added six service aces, while serving during the pivotal runs of all three sets (11-0, 8-0 and 9-0, respectively). 

The Athenas needed some time to pull away from the Loggers in the first two sets. In fact, the first set was tied 14-14 before CMS closed on an 11-0 run that included two aces from Carranza in the final three points. 

The second set saw Puget Sound use a 6-0 run to take a 15-13 lead, but the Athenas went on an 8-0 run, with Carranza contributing another ace, and captured 12 of the final 13 points to win it 25-16. In the third set, CMS went on its big run early to take control, using a 9-0 run to move ahead 15-3, capped off by two more Carranza aces. Anna Ryan finished off the match with a kill for a 25-12 win in the third. 

CMS will be back in action on the second day of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational tomorrow, facing East Texas Baptist at 4 p.m. and Whitworth at 7 p.m.