Panthers rally but fall in five sets to Pomona

ORANGE, Calif. - The Chapman University volleyball team rebounded from a two-game deficit to force a decisive fifth game against the visiting Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Friday night at the Hutton Sports Center, only to see its rally fall just short. Pomona escaped in five games winning 21-25, 18-25, 25-17, 28-26, 4-15.

After dropping the first two sets, Chapman (7-7) responded by winning the next two to force a fifth game. In the third set the Panthers led throughout building as large as an eight point lead. Pomona (5-7) got out to a 13-5 lead in the fourth set only to see its lead disappear as the Panthers rallied to tie the game at 17 on a kill by sophomore MB Nalani Haviland. The rest of the fourth set was a back-and-forth affair until senior OH Erin DeRycke had a service ace to force the fifth set.

After exerting so much energy to fight back from a two-game deficit to force the fifth game, the Panthers seemed to run out of gas in the final set losing 15-4.

junior OH Kela Powers and senior OH Lyndsey Cargile had a team-high 15 kills. Sophomore OH Alana Long had a team-high 33 digs and Powers contributed 28 digs in the absence of senior L Linda Ly who leads the nation in digs per game.

For Pomona, senior OH Sarah Amos had a game-high 18 kills adding 16 digs. Sophomore DS Heidi Leonard finished with a game-high 40 digs for the Sagehens.

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