CLAREMONT, Calif. - The second-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's volleyball team fought off five set points in the first set, and were able to come away with a hard-fought 31-29, 25-22, 25-17 win over third-seeded Whittier on Thursday evening in the SCIAC Semifinals at Roberts Pavilion. 

With the win, the Athenas improve to 19-7 on the season and move on to face top-seeded La Verne for the SCIAC Championship on Saturday at 6 p.m. at La Verne. The Leopards defeated Redlands 3-0 in the other Thursday semifinal. 

Brooke McKee had 18 kills to lead the way for CMS, going over 400 for the season, just the seventh member of the Athenas to hit that milestone, and now has 407, tied for fourth in program history on the single-season list. She also moved into fourth on the career list with 1142, passing former teammate Jenna Holmes, who finished with 1137. 

The semifinal with Whittier was almost the exact inverse of the final regular season meeting between the teams at Whittier, when the Poets won 33-31, 25-20, 25-16 after fighting off seven set points in the first set. 

This time around, CMS trailed 24-22 in the first set before a 3-0 run gave the Athenas the lead. McKee had a kill to make it 24-23, and setter Samantha Riter knotted the score with a kill. Stella Gajar then put CMS ahead 25-24 with a kill to give the Athenas a set point. 

The Poets answered and McKee gave CMS its second set point with a kill, but the Poets earned the next two points to go ahead 27-26. Shae Delany tied it with a kill, and then tied it at 28-28 with another kill. 

After Whittier went ahead 29-28, one of the most dramatic points of the match took place, with Mia Urosevic diving for a dig to keep set point from falling, and setter Hayden Lin following with two more diving digs that the Athenas barely kept alive, before Phoebe Shorney finished off the point with an unassisted kill off an overpass to tie it 29-29. 

An ace from Delany gave CMS its third set point, and McKee and Solvej Eversoll combined on a block to finish the dramatic first set with the Athenas on top 31-29. 

Whittier went ahead 20-17 in the second, looking to split the first two sets, before CMS rallied to tie it 20-20 on a block from Shorney and Gajar. The Poets then went ahead 22-21, before the Athenas closed out with four straight points for a 2-0 lead in the match. McKee tied it with a kill, then had an ace to put CMS ahead 23-22. After an Anna Ryan kill, Delany and Gajar finished off the set with another block. 

The Athenas jumped out in the third set to a 7-1 lead, and had a 9-2 advantage before Whittier made a push to stay alive, getting it back to 12-9. McKee had a kill a block in a 3-0 run to make it 15-9, and after the Poets made it 15-10, CMS rattled off the next four points on kills from Shorney, Gajar, McKee and Ryan. Delany and McKee had two straight kills to make it 24-16, and then Shorney finished it off with a kill for a 25-17 win. 

Delany and Shorney each had 11 kills for CMS, while Lin finished with 28 assists and Urosevic had 21 digs. 

The winner of Saturday's match with La Verne will earn the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.