LA VERNE, Calif.—Whitworth lost 3-1 to Pomona-Pitzer in its final match of the Whittier Invitational tournament on Saturday at the University of LaVerne. The final match against La Verne was cancelled due to Covid protocols.

Pomona-Pitzer (4-5) won the first two sets and held on for 25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23 win.

Despite only posting a .167 team hitting average and committing eight hitting errors, the Sagehens edged the Pirates in the first set after Whitworth only hit .136.

Pomona-Pitzer hit.256 average with fifteen kills in the second frame, winning by their largest margin of the night. The Pirates hit .132 in the second set, their lowest team average of the match.

The Pirates (5-2) rallied to take the third set 25-20 behind kills from Abby Wolverton and blocks from Kaity Barr.

The Sagehens won the match in a hard-fought fourth set after multiple ties and lead changes. The teams had nearly identical hitting stats, both with thirteen kills and six hitting.

Chloe Gill led the Sagehen offense with sixteen kills in the match.

Abby Wolverton and Cassidy Franklin tied for the lead with nine kills for Whitworth.  Franklin had seven block assists for 12.5 total points.

Whitworth returns to the court on Friday, Sept. 17 to begin Northwest Conference play at home against George Fox University.