The Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team is ready to continue spiking their way toward world domination. Coach Valerie Cowan, beginning her tenth year with the P-P program, oversees a deep and talented squad led by senior captains Heidi Leonard PO ’12 and Jordan Hammond PO ’12.

Middle blocker Kirea Mazzolini PO ’15 describes the team as a close-knit group led by a velvet-hammered coach.

"She can give you 'that look' when you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be," Mazzolini said, "but she's like a teddy bear inside.”

Leonard, who led last year's team with 548 digs - volleyball-speak for saving a spiked ball - is on pace to break the P-P career record.  Leonard has high hopes for this year's team.

"We have the most collective talent we’ve ever had since I’ve been at Pomona,” she said with her chin held high. 

The Sagehens’ depth and balance has already come in handy: college volleyball is a deceptively high-contact sport with a lot of repetitive motions.  Injuries have already affected the team by forcing outside hitter Carolyn Hite PO ’15 from the game for a brief period.

Last season's team finished fourth in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and most of the women return to the court this year. As the libero, or defensive specialist, Leonard anchored the Sagehen defense, which was a significant strength last season. The team average of 20.58 digs per set was the fourth highest rate in the nation among Division III schools.  

On the attack, setter Kenzie Aries PZ ’12 and outside hitter Hammond will assume leading roles.  They are joined by freshman standout Ellen Yamasaki PZ ’15 who has earned 96 kills, or heavy-handed spikes, at a rate of 2.91 per set.

The volleyball team’s season got off to a tough start, with a cumulative record of two wins and six losses in the Pacific Coast Classic and Cal Lutheran’s Cal-Lu-fornia Invitational.  Although the Sagehens dropped all of their matches at the Cal-Lu-fornia Invitational, there was a silver lining.

"It really helped us work out kinks,” Mazzolini said.

A grueling travel schedule that called for four matches in two days and the losses of some key team members to injury left captains Leonard and Hammond confident that there is plenty of room for improvement once conference play rolls around.

The Sagehens will play the first of 14 conference games at Whittier College on Saturday before hosting rival CMS Tuesday night at 7:30. The top four teams in the SCIAC will advance to a conference tournament that will determine who receives the SCIAC’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.

Despite all the talk of kills and digs, the women’s volleyball team will not hurt you, and welcomes your support.  Matches are best of five sets, and usually last about an hour and a half to two hours. Most are on Tuesdays and Fridays, naturally forming a pleasant interlude between dinner and the scholarly pursuits that characterize Friday nights.  The level of play in the P-P volleyball program has never been higher, and it’s about time student support reflected that.