Home not so sweet; Panthers swept by Redlands

ORANGE, Calif. - On Tuesday night, the Chapman University volleyball team made its long-awaited home debut after opening the season with nine road matches. The Panthers lost. On Wednesday, Chapman was again at home and the results weren't any better for the Panthers, who were defeated by visiting University of Redlands 25-20, 25-16, 28-26 at the Hutton Sports Center.

Chapman (5-6) lost its third straight match and fell below .500 for the first time since its season-opening defeat to Texas Lutheran earlier this month.

The Panthers had to play from behind in all three sets and, although they rallied in the third to force extra play, they could never regain the lead. The Bulldogs' Emily Capozzoli recorded the final kill of the match to clinch the victory for Redlands (3-2). It was Capozzoli's team-high ninth kill of the game.

Leading the way for Chapman was senior OH Lyndsey Cargile who had a match-high 10 kills. Senior libero Linda Ly added 33 digs in the midst of some long rallies between the two teams. Ly has recorded at least 30 digs in five matches this season and is currently averaging over 7.9 digs per game.

Chapman will try to earn its first home victory on Saturday as the Panthers host Dickinson College (Pa.) at the Hutton Center at noon.

Box score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wvball/2009-10/stats/ur-cu.htm