Senior Emily James sets sophomore Ashley Morgado up with a pass enabling her to score against Chapman. The Leopards pounced on the Panthers for the second time in a week, scoring 30-24, 30-19, and 30-27, ending in a final score of 3-0. Later in the evening, the Leopards faced the Caltech Beavers and emerged victorious, 3-0. La Verne is set to play SCIAC rival Cal Lutheran at home tonight at 7:30 p.m. The following day, the Leopards will host Occidental at 1 p.m. / photo by Steven Bier
Jennifer Gilderman
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne volleyball team stretched its winning streak to eight games when by defeating the Chapman Panthers and Caltech Beavers this week.
The Leopards took down the Panthers, 30-24, 30-19, and 30-27 on Friday afternoon.
Later that evening, ULV cruised to a victory over the Caltech Beavers, 30-3, 30-11, and 30-13.
“We came out strong with good energy,” said sophomore outside hitter Christa Jones.
La Verne easily took the first game against Chapman.
But during the second match the Leopards would go on a 9-0 run after trailing the Panthers, 5-2.
ULV hit .515 percentage on 20 kills in the second game alone.
The final game was full of excitement as both teams rallied back and forth down to the final points.
Chapman narrowed down the gap, 28-26, but La Verne took the next two of three points and captured their win 30-27.
“This was our first game where everything seemed to click,” said sophomore middle blocker Ashley Morgado. “They (Chapman) is always a good competitor and they push us.”
Senior opposite Jodi Lindsay had 16 kills in the afternoon.
Her strong play has earned her Female Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week honors.
Junior outside hitter Brianna Gonzales led the team with nine kills, followed by Jones, who slammed down eight.
“We have a team that can do anything,” Jones said. “We are doing a great job at keeping up that energy.”
While La Verne might have struggled in their first tournament of the season, they are showing nothing but a great sign of what is still to come.
“We’ve had a lot more time to play with each other,” Morgado said. “We know each others strengths and weaknesses, so when we see a problem, we know we can help each other”
And while La Verne might have a less difficult schedule right now, they focus on each game as if they were always playing the No. 1 team.
“We’re starting to do some good things,” said head coach Don Flora. “We are playing really clean.”
That evening each La Verne member got playing time as they took down Caltech in just 48 minutes.
In the first game freshman Yesenia Lopez served 16 straight.
Senior outside hitter Whitney Kranz led ULV with seven kills and sophomore opposite/outside hitter Karli Fowlkes added five.
Freshman outside hitter Rachel Verdoorn had five service aces, which was a game high.
Before their game against Caltech, Flora told the women to pick two points and try to focus on them.
“Our goals were having good energy and serving, and we accomplished them,” Morgado said.
With a less difficult schedule, the women focus on playing more technically rather than emotionally.
“We set a presence to La Verne standards,” said sophomore middle blocker Fowlkes. “We’re doing a good job playing our game.”
La Verne will play SCIAC rival Cal Lutheran in a highly anticipated game tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Frantz Athletic Court.
Jennifer Gilderman can be reached at jgilderman@ulv.edu.