By Sara Elcano, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. -- The Willamette University volleyball team earned a win in straight sets over Whittier College to complete the first day of the Cal-Lu-fornia Volleyball Invitational on Friday, Sept. 10. The Bearcats defeated the Poets, 25-18, 25-18, 25-17.

Earlier in the day, Willamette was defeated by Chapman University to open the tournament. Chapman won in five sets, 14-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-27 and 19-17.

Molly Blankenship (Sr., OH, Spokane, WA/Spokane Falls CC) had seven kills in the win. Freshman Kirsten Brehmer (MH, Evergreen, CO/Evergreen HS) provided six kills for the Bearcats.

Madisyn Leenstra (So., MH, Bellingham, WA/Sehome HS) also provided a strong effort. The sophomore had four block assists, one solo block and two serving aces.

"The team played really well," said Head Coach Tom Shoji. "After losing the morning game in five, we really responded and came back ready to play."

In the first game against Chapman, Carly Hargrave (Fr., MH, Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas HS) had 14 kills and only one hitting error. She added four solo blocks and five block assists. Leenstra contributed 10 kills and five solo blocks. She also had one block assist.

Blankenship added 18 kills and nine digs for the Bearcats. Compton dished out 55 assists and had nine digs. Glenn achieved 25 digs.

Computer statistics were not available. Willamette, now 4-3 on the season, will face Occidental College at 3 p.m. (PDT) tomorrow, Sept. 11. Following that match, the Bearcats will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 5 p.m. (PDT) to close out the tournament, which is being hosted by California Lutheran University.