Geiger reaches 1,000 kills, but Chapman falls in five

ORANGE, Calif. – A comeback attempt by the Chapman University volleyball team fell just shy of the mark on Saturday as the Panther dropped a heartbreaker in five sets to visiting Whittier College 25-14, 25-18, 24-26, 22-25, 15-12 at the Hutton Sports Center.

Chapman senior MB Val Geiger recorded a match- and season-high 21 kills, giving her exactly 1,000 kills in her illustrious career. The two-time All-American becomes just the sixth player in Chapman history to eclipse the 1,000 kill plateau.

It wasn't enough however, as Chapman (3-10 overall, 2-2 SCIAC) was hampered by a slow start, losing the first two sets 25-14 and 25-18 and was never fully able to recover. The loss was Chapman's second SCIAC loss in as many days after beginning the conference schedule with back-to-back wins.

Whittier (4-7 overall, 3-2 SCIAC) shook off Panther wins in sets 3 and 4 and rallied from a 4-1 deficit in set 5 to win it 15-12. The Poets made fewer hitting errors (by nearly half) and provided a strong net presence all night with 11 total blocks en route to the victory.

The Poets were led by OH Casie Lowden who finished with 19 kills and 15 digs. Setter Torrey Mitsunaga added 39 assists and 20 digs.

Chapman fell victim to too many unforced attack errors in the five-set loss. In fact the Panthers hit -.086 in the first set and below .100 in each of the final two sets, finishing with 35 attack errors overall. When things were going well, Chapman sophomore S Jade Santos earned a career-high 43 assists and added 14 digs. Senior L Andi Frisina tallied 38 digs for the Panthers.

The Panthers will be at Cal Lutheran University on Tuesday night before returning home to host Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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