Women's volleyball sweeps Redlands for fifth straight win

ORANGE, Calif. – Four different players had eight or more kills as the Chapman University women's volleyball team swept Redlands 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 for its fifth win in a row. The win streak is the longest in a single season since the 2012 Panthers won five in a row to start the SCIAC season.

The box score was as balanced as the line score for Chapman (8-3, 3-0 SCIAC) with four players tallying eight or more kills and four registering at least seven digs. Junior Courtney Justus hit .304 and slammed down nine kills to lead the way offensively while senior Cheri Raymundo had 13 digs to lead the back row.

Chapman opened up sets one and two with a 5-1 lead and trailed for a combined two points during the opening set as the Panthers took the commanding 2-0 lead in the match. Chapman hit .244 in the first set while holding Redlands to just a .083 hitting percentage. The Panthers hit .226 in the second and .265 in the third to outhit the Bulldogs (2-5, 0-2 SCIAC) in all three sets.

The Panthers' middles combined for 15 kills on just 27 swings. Junior Lauren Friend had eight kills on .583 hitting while senior Abby Smith hit .400 with seven kills. Friend also had her hands on three blocks and served up three of Chapman's eight aces. Junior Jessica Blum passed out 27 assists with a pair of kills and five digs.

It was the Bulldogs trying to flip the script in the third as they took a 4-1 lead. The Panthers came back to tie the set at 6-6 on a kill from Friend. After another kill from junior Kiley McGill, Friend served back-to-back aces to give Chapman a 9-6 advantage.

Redlands never recovered as Chapman led the rest of the way. The set stayed close until Friend made her second rotation to serve and went on another four point run to make it 22-16.

The Panthers are back at home on Saturday to face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 6 p.m. in Hutton Sports Center. They travel to Caltech for a 7 p.m. match on Friday.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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