Emily Perkins had 11 kills and five blocked shots to lead No. 14 Colorado College to a 27-25, 26-24, 25-19 victory over Millikin University, giving the Tigers a spot in Saturday's championship match of the 2009 Molten Volleyball Spike It Up Classic.
CC, which began the tournament with a 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 victory over UC Santa Cruz, will face Chapman University in the title match. The Panthers earned their spot in the championship with a 25-13, 19-25, 25-21, 29-31, 15-12 victory over Millikin and a 25-23, 28-26, 25-16 win against UCSC.
The Tigers extended their winning streak to six matches and their 27 victories equal the most in a single season during head coach Rick Swan's 12 seasons, a total reached two other times, including last year. CC has swept 13 of 16 opponents at home and is 48-4 in individual sets.
Colorado College survived two set points in the first set, pulling even both times on a Perkins kill. After a Big Blue error, Sarah Schmoker's kill put it in the win column for CC.
The Tigers trailed 24-21 in the second set, but Laura Goldsmith had a pair of kills and solo block, and Millikin struggled to pass Kate Weig's serves as Colorado College ran off the final five points.
CC used an 11-4 run to build an 18-11 lead midway through the third set, and the Big Blue was never able to get closer than three points as the Tigers improved to 27-3 with their 23rd consecutive home-court victory.
In the first match of the day, Meredith Ballard led the Tigers with 11 kills, the third time in the last six matches she has reached double figures as well as the sixth time this season. Sarah Schmoker added eight kills, while Perkins had seven.
Colorado College blocked eight shots while holding UCSC to a .095 hitting percentage, the fifth consecutive match in which the Tigers held an opponent to under .100 for the match. Perkins had a hand in five blocks, while Schmoker was in on three.
Jen Meyers paced the Banana Slug defense with a match-high 17 kills, while Dana Johnson had a match-high 16 digs.
The round-robin portion of the tournament continues on Saturday when Colorado College plays host to Chapman University in the first of two key West Region matches at 11 a.m. The third-place and championship matches are scheduled for 3 and 5 p.m., respectively.
