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Nov 30, 2009

Season Review: Poets improve with nine-win season


Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. - Competing with a squad that included three seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen the Whittier College volleyball team improved upon last year's finish by four games as it finished with nine wins which includes three in conference play.

The Poets (9-16, 3-11 SCIAC) opened up their season as winners for three of their first four matches. Whittier earned three straight wins after it dropped its season opener to Lewis & Clark.

WC cruised past Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Caltech and non-conference opponents Mills and La Sierra in straight sets and for the season won seven of its nine matches in straight sets.

Whittier also earned straight set sweeps of Occidental on October 2, La Sierra on October 7, Caltech on October 9 and Mt. Aloysius on October 23.

Junior Aya Nakano led the Poets with 287 kills and had a 3.46 kills per game average that ranked fourth in the conference. She had a season-high 28 kills in a five-set victory over King's (Pa.) College on October 17 and went over 20 kills for a match three times on the year.

Nakano was also tops on the team with 299 digs and ranked second on the team with 29 services aces.

Junior Vanessa Amran coordinated the Poets' attack with a team-high 605 assists and a 7.29 assists per set average that ranked sixth in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Amran recorded a season-high 46 assists on October 23 against Clark (Mass.) and went over 40 assists on two occasions.  She had a season-high for a conference match on October 6 with a 34 assist performance against Pomona-Pitzer.

Nakano and Amran led the offensive attack that finished the year with a .123 attacking percentage but it didn't come without solid contributions from senior Natalie Barajas and junior Shannon Orlins among others.

Barajas ranked third on the team with 118 kills and was second on the team with 228 digs. Orlins chipped in with 149 kills and finished the year with a team-high 47 total blocks which includes 14 solo blocks.

Whittier traveled to New York to participate in the City College of New York Tournament on October 23 and 24 and came away with a pair of victories. The first match of the tournament was arguably the best performance of the season by the Poets as they erased a 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 win over Clark (Mass.).

The Poets dropped the first two sets 25-20 and 25-23 but rebounded with a pair of convincing wins and in the deciding set held off Clark. WC took the third set 25-14, the fourth set 25-15 and won the tie-breaker 15-12.

Whittier also posted a gutsy performance against NCAA Division III Tournament bound, and tournament host, City College (N.Y.).  WC against dug itself in a hole as it was down 2-0 after the first two sets but wins in the third and fourth set forced the tie-breaker that the Poets eventually lost, 15-7.

The Poets also had significant contributions from freshman setter Ashley Terich who filled the stats sheets with a team-high 34 services aces, ranked second on the team with 57 assists and 149 digs and seven total blocks.

The Poets will return their top two offensive weapons and top setter in 2010 as the purple and gold look to continue to build towards competing for a conference crown.