The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas volleyball team served up a sumptuous feast of fried Pomona-Pitzer Sagehen Friday night, scorching their cross-campus rivals in a 3-0 victory.
As always with the heated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer rivalry, the stakes were high; the Sagehens had won in a close 3-1 match at their last meeting, the gym was packed, and it
was the Athenas’ Senior Night. After honoring seniors from both teams, the match began in front of an eager and rowdy crowd.
The Athenas shot out to a lead in game one and never looked back. They won that game 30-27, but that is the closest they let the Sagehens get. The following games resembled a slaughter,
with CMS winning 30-23 and 30-21. Scripps sophomore middle-hitter Camille Butts had a rock-solid performance, blocking the Sagehens to shame. A first-year Scripps middle-hitter, Jessica Flood, had an excellent performance as well, hitting well and bringing her killer instinct to the floor. Scrippsie and co-captain Emily Bennett, celebrating her Senior Night, fired it up and hit soundly against the Sagehens; she had won all but two matches against The Claremont College rivals in her Athena career and was not about to go out without another notch on her belt.
The night couldn’t have ended better. After Bennett hit the match-winning kill, the team united on court in a jumping, screaming mass of excitement as the crowd went wild. Perhaps head coach Dianna Turner-Graves put it best when she commented: “It was a great effort from the entire team. It’s always fun to play Pomona-Pitzer and beat them in a packed gym at home.”
And indeed it was fun. Victory and fried Sagehen…how sweet it is.