Freshman duo Courtney Birkett  and Emily Phillips led the Colorado College volleyball team with a combined 20 kills to help the Tigers earn a 25-17, 25-17, 25-19 sweep over Whittier College on Saturday morning in Reid Arena.
 
Birkett earned her fourth double-double of the season tying the team-best 10 kills and added 10 digs to aid the Tigers on the right side. Birkett also hit a team-high .382 attack percentage with only two errors on 21 attempts.
 
Phillips hit 10 kills to tie for the team high on the outside and also came up big at the net tying her career-high four blocks.
 
The 20th-ranked Tigers started the match strong offensively hitting a match-high .222 attack percentage with 16 kills on four errors in 54 attempts.
 
Birkett was the sparkplug offensively for CC in the first set hitting six kills en route to a 25-17 win to give the Tigers the early lead.
 
CC fell behind early in the second match, 8-4, but benefited from a Poet attack error to take the lead on a 6-0 run with strong serving from Kristen Liberty.
 
The Tigers held on to their lead the remainder of the set, closing out the second set with an 8-0 run to take a two-set advantage.
 
The final set remained close and was tied at 15-15, but freshman Karina Guerrero dished an assist to Birkett for a kill to help ignite a 5-0 run to take a 20-15 advantage. CC went on to win the final set 25-19 to earn the sweep.
 
Senior Kate Squires organized the offense with a team-high 26 assists to help the Tigers improve to 18-6 on the season.
 
Defensively, senior Laura Goldsmith led the back row with 18 digs, while freshman Sophie Merrifield added 16 more. Sophomore Randi Braak led CC at the net with a team-high five blocks.     
 
Colorado College returns to the road as it takes on Division II Colorado Christian University in a midweek match on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Lakewood, Colo.