Leopards Declaw Tigers on Court

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 25, 2008) –  The young Tigers volleyball squad continued to show improvement, but against the # 3 ranked University of La Verne Leopards, Occidental College fell short, being swept 3-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action tonight in Rush Gymnasium.

Senior 2007 All-American Brianna Gonzales led all players with 12 kills, adding nine digs as the Leopards won 25-17, 25-16 and 25-11.

Offensively Occidental again looked to the freshman duo of Kaitlin McAndrews and Gwynne Davis who combined for 10 kills.

The Tigers defense combined for 50 digs, two more than the Leopards, with Lisa Fukuzato leading the Tigers with 14 while Chelsea Sleight had a match-high 15. Ashley Rosenbaum tallied four solo blocks, one more than ULV’s Crista Jones who had three solo and two assists.

Overall La Verne hit .297 with their match best performance coming in the first game in which they notched a .433 hitting percentage that included 16 kills in 30 attempts.

Ginger Grimes recorded nine assists with teammate Jamie Nikami adding five.

Occidental drops to 5-9 overall with a 2-8 SCIAC mark as La Verne remains among the nation’s best at 19-2, 10-0.

The Tigers will resume SCIAC play on Tuesday evening in Pasadena as Oxy travels to Caltech for a 7:30 p.m. start.