Volleyball takes down Redlands in SCIAC opener

ORANGE, Calif. – Another strong defensive effort led the Chapman University volleyball team to a 25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19 win over Redlands to open SCIAC play. The Panthers (9-1, 1-0 SCIAC) won their seventh match in row to continue its hot start to the season.

Chapman surged out to a big lead in the opening set and rode the momentum to a 2-0 advantage in the match. Redlands (6-3, 0-1 SCIAC) was able to steal away the third set before a late surge clinched the match for the Panthers in the fourth.

Sophomore Mavis Lui was dialed in for the Panthers, hitting .462 with 13 kills from the right side. Freshman Sophie Srivastava recorded her third triple-double of the season with 23 assists, 11 kills and 11 digs. She also was in on six total blocks. Freshman Jessi Lumsden led the Panthers with 14 kills and had 11 digs while senior Lauren Friend put down 10 kills on .421 hitting with four blocks.

The Panthers opened up a 5-1 lead to start the match and continued to sprint ahead to an early 12-4 lead. Redlands caught some momentum and slowly chipped away but proved to start too far behind as Chapman clinched the set with a block from Srivastava and junior Nayelli Munoz.

Redlands managed just nine kills in the opening set and eight more in the second set, hitting .064 and .000 in those first two sets. Chapman hit .400 in the second set to cruise to a 2-0 lead. Redlands offensive woes continued in the third, hitting just .093, but received a spark from Lauren Lux off the bench. After entering in the third set, she had four aces to go along with a kill and four digs. Paige Davidson also served up an ace to go along with three kills and eight digs off the bench. The Bulldogs held Chapman to just .073 hitting and pulled away late to extend the match.

In the fourth, Redlands had its best offensive numbers on .143 hitting but Chapman regained its stride. The Panthers hit .344 with 14 kills in the match-clinching set. Chapman hit .212 overall while holding Redlands to .075 hitting on the night. Senior libero Sara Utsugi put up 21 digs to lead the back row defensive effort.

The sub-.100 hitting percentage makes Redlands the seventh opponent this season that have been held to less than a .100 hitting percentage. Only Carthage has hit over .200 against the Panthers while Chapman is hitting .249 on the season.

Chapman returns to the court tomorrow but heads out on the road to take on Caltech at 2 p.m. The Panthers are back in Hutton Sports Center on Tuesday to face Occidental at 7 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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