LA VERNE, Calif. – The Carthage College women's volleyball team opened the 2015 season in impressive fashion, not dropping a set to either the University of Puget Sound or the University of La Verne.  The two wins were the first of four matches that the Lady Reds will compete in at the 2015 Pomona-Pitzer College Pacific Coast Challenge.
 
No. 11 Carthage (2-0) opened with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-21) win over Puget Sound (0-2) in their first matches of the tournament.  2014 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Co-Player of the Year Karen Chin played a near perfect match turning in 27 assists, 11 digs, five kills, three aces while not committing a single attack or ball handling error. 
 
Stephanie Korbakes and Emily Heuermann were on the receiving-end of most of Chin's assists, as each had a team-high nine kills in the match. 
 
In Carthage's second match Friday, the Lady Reds topped the day's host, La Verne in straight sets, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17), to closeout a perfect afternoon on the west coast.
 
The Lady Reds hit .309 as a team while holding La Verne to just .187, including just .077 in the third and final set.   Karen Chin, Rachael Mickey, Stephanie Korbakes and Emily Heuermann each hit above .250 for the match, with Chin, Mickey and Korbakes all hitting about .375.
 
Carthage returns to the court Saturday in a pair of nationally ranked matchups when the No. 11 Lady Reds will face No. 8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College at 9 a.m. PST followed by No. 5 California Lutheran University at 11:15 a.m. PST.  Both matches will be played at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Linde Center in Claremont, Calif.