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SOFTBALL

LEOPARDS vs WHITTIER (DH)

TUESDAY, MARCH 9

WHEELER PARK

2 PM

The University of La Verne earned a hard-fought three-set win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by identical scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 in SCIAC action Friday at Ducey Gymnasium in Claremont.

La Verne improved to 19-12 overall and 9-4 in league play while CMS dropped to 14-14 and 6-7, respectively.

With the win, the Leopards clinched a berth in next weekend's inaugural SCIAC Conference Tournament.

In the first set, the Leos and Athenas battled to a standoff with both teams tied at 23-23 until the La Verne took the final two points to grab a 1-0 set lead.  In the second stanza, the Leopards moved out to a 20-17 advantage only to watch CMS seize the next five points to go up 22-20.  La Verne responded by taking five of the next six points en route to a 25-23 set win to go up 2-0 on the Athenas. 

The Leopards continued their momentum into the third set, grabbing an early 8-3 lead before the Athenas rallied to forge a 10-10 tie.  La Verne re-established control, pulled away and seized a 23-18 lead.  CMS fought back by winning the next five points to once again tie the set at 23-23.  But the Leos won the next two points on a Crista Jones kill and an Athena hitting error to escape with the win.

Jones totaled 14 kills to become the Leopards' career kill leader in the rally scoring era with 1,305 to surpass Amy Kratochvil (2001-2004) who amassed 1,300 for her career. 

Randi Toomay added 13 kills for La Verne with middle blockers Ashley Morgado and Catie Logan each chipping in with 4 kills.  Kendall Kraiss (18) and Yesenia Lopez (17) dished out a combined 35 assists while Chelsea Sleight collected 23 digs in the sweep.

La Verne concludes the regular season when it plays host to Redlands on Senior Night, held Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm.