CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team defeated Westminster (Mo.) 3-0 on Friday at Roberts Pavilion, winning by set scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 25-10 in its season opener on the opening day of the Pacific Coast Classic.
CMS held Westminster to -.076 hitting with 15 blocks as a team.
Lauren Staples led the Staples with 10 kills while hitting .471 and added four block assists.
Solvej Eversoll recorded six kills and a team-high eight total blocks, while
Samantha Riter finished with 18 assists, 10 digs and
Elise Arends collected a team-high 14 digs and added four assists.
The Athenas pulled away late in the first set, answering an 18-17 Westminster edge with a service error, back-to-back assisted blocks and another Westminster attack error to move ahead 21-18 before finishing a 25-20 set win. The set stayed tight through the middle until
Stella Gajar's serving turn helped CMSÂ turn a 9-9 tie into a 13-9 advantage, with Staples and
Quincy Rodin adding kills and Staples joining Eversoll on a block during the stretch. After Westminster pulled even at 16-16 and later went in front 18-17, CMS responded with a late surge, then got kills from Gajar and Staples around another Westminster error before closing the set on a final attack error.
CMS turned an 11-11 second set into a 16-11 lead with five straight points, starting with a Westminster attack error before
Samantha Riter assisted kills by Gajar and Rodin, Rodin added another kill from Riter, and
Shae Delany. After the Blue Jays got back within 16-14, CMS pushed the margin to 20-14 with two Staples kills and a block. Westminster pulled within 20-16, but CMS closed with kills from Staples, Eversoll, Delany and Shorney before taking the set 25-17 on a Westminster attack error.
The Athenas controlled the third set from the opening serve, scoring the first three points and Riter later served through a four-point stretch from that stretched the lead to 11-4 behind kills by Gajar and Staples. After Delany and Staples supplied kills to help move the lead to 15-6,
Skye Dunn added an ace, and CMS followed with a five-point push to 22-7 that included an Eversoll block, a Shorney kill from Lin and a Shorney-Eversoll block. Rodin had a kill to make it 24-10. and teamed with Gajar on the final block as C-M-S finished the set, 25-10.
CMS will be back in action tomorrow when it plays North Central at 12:30 p.m. and then closing out the tournament with a match against Lasell at 5:30 p.m.
