It’s been a tough season for the Pomona-Pitzer volleyball squad (3-10 SCIAC, 3-19 overall), and the last two weeks may have been the roughest of all. Between Wednesday, October 17 and Tuesday, October 30, the team lost all of its seven games, including five to SCIAC opponents. Losses came at the hands of Chapman (23-30, 28-30, 27-30), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (21-30, 19-30, 23-30), Whittier (21-30, 25-30, 25-30), La Verne (14-30, 15-30, 16-30) Colorado College (30-27, 21-30, 22-30, 22-30), Occidental (13-30, 28-30, 19-30), and Redlands (27-30, 28-30, 30-24, 14-30.

The October 17 match against Chapman was disheartening because the Sagehens played well enough to win. In the first game of this 3-0 loss, they got off to a slow start and fell fast, but the last two games could have gone to either team. P-P fought hard against its non-conference visitors, but the ball was just not bouncing the right way for the Blue-and-Gold. Colleen Chrisco ’03 led the team with 11 kills, Elena Shih ’04 added 10 digs, while Alysha Lascano ’05 and Jeannie Kenmotsu ’05 came up with 18 and 14 assists, respectively.

P-P hosted CMS on October 19 and lost 3-0. This game may have been the most disappointing of all, for, aside from Caltech, the Athenas are the only team P-P has defeated. Playing before a packed house constituting nearly every Pomona-Pitzer student who had not already left for fall break and a nine-year-old girls’ volleyball team, it looked as if this Friday night would be a good one. Unfortunately, there were few bright spots for P-P, and CMS was playing at the top of its game. Renee Faulkner again led the Sagehens in kills with 11; Chrisco and Shih each contributed 9 digs, and Lascano and Kenmotsu both had 11 assists, but this was clearly not enough, as the Sagehens did not threaten to break out in even one game.

The following evening, the visiting Sagehens were routed by Whittier 3-0. Despite being another match that the team went into thinking they could win, the Poets swept past P-P without much trouble. Susan Caplow ’03 had 9 kills, Kenmotsu had 12 assists, and Shih had 12 digs for team highs.

P-P fell to the La Verne Leopards, October 23, 3-0. This was not a match the Sagehens expected to take, for La Verne’s only loss on the season was a forfeit to Cal Lutheran that resulted after seven La Verne players were suspended for their involvement in a fight at a party. With all of their players reinstated, the Leopards cruised by the Sagehens with ease. Though Faulkner, Caplow, and Vacenta Arrizon ’04 each had 6 kills and Kenmotsu had 11 assists on the night for the Sagehens, La Verne really had little to worry about. The Leopards pounced on nearly every ball and their setters put up easy kills for their hitters. Moreover, the visiting Leopards hit an impressive .435, while the Sagehens could only muster a meager .042 hitting percentage.

On October 25, Colorado College offered a chance for P-P to play another non-conference opponent, and perhaps add a win to its record. Things looked good when the Sagehens flew out to a 30-27 win in the first game of its last home match of the season. However, the Tigers–one of Division III’s best teams in the nation–took on a new form (perhaps aided by the sub-in of 6-foot-3 outside hitter Katharine "Unleash the Beast" Hauschka, a player so massively large that her hits on the ball made me wonder if the ball-kids should check for teeth and claw marks) the next three games and pounded the Sagehens for wins of 30-21, 30-22, 30-22. Faulkner and Arrizon slammed 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Faulkner’s 15 digs and Lascano’s 18 assists were each team highs.

The Friday, October 26 match against Occidental proved little better than the La Verne match, though the second game was a close 30-28 loss. It is hard to compete with a team, however, when your team leader in kills (Arrizon) has just five.

Finally, Tuesday, October 30’s 3-1 loss at Redlands was another heartbreaker similar to the Chapman match. Playing against the SCIAC’s third-best team, the Sagehens’ first two games were decided by three and two points respectively. The team fought-on to win the third game, 30-24, but its 10-woman squad and lack of height proved too much to overcome, and P-P lost by a convincing 30-14 margin. Arrizon and Faulkner had 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Kenmotsu’s 16 assists led the team, and Lascano dished out 13 of her own. Defensively, Chrisco and Shih had 22 digs each.

Though reporting on Sagehen volleyball may entail too many explanations for losses and few chances to write about exciting victories, it is never a chore. These women are some of the toughest, most courageous individuals Pomona-Pitzer has to offer. With just four substitutes, no seniors, and no six-footers to fill its front-court, this team has persevered and proved that on any given day it will show up to play and maybe surprise some people. How else could one explain the Sagehens’ early-season victory against CMS or its near-upset of Redlands? If next season’s freshman class can add depth and size, and the current members continue to display the kind of heart that has characterized this season, next year’s team will be one to watch. Through thick and thin, this team that lacks the numbers to even play a full-sided intra-squad scrimmage has pushed, and then pushed harder. Every game is played to the last point. So despite the "unimpressive" record, this reporter tips his hat and hopes that the rest of the Pomona-Pitzer community will award these fine student-athletes the respect they so justly deserve.