Volleyball picked third in SCIAC, set to open 2019 season

ORANGE, Calif. – The 2019 season begins on Friday with high hopes and expectations as the Chapman University strives for its third consecutive SCIAC Tournament appearance. The Panthers were picked to finish third in a poll of the SCIAC coaches.

While Claremont-Mudd-Scripps received all nine first place votes, the Panthers were just six points behind second-place Cal Lutheran in the poll. Nearly 20 points separated the Panthers from fourth-place Pomona-Pitzer.

The 2018 SCIAC Newcomer of the Year and All-Region setter/right side Sophie Srivastava is back for her sophomore campaign. She was the first Panther to achieve a triple-double on the volleyball floor and proceeded to record 10 of them in her freshman season – the second-most in Division III. Her rookie season ended with Srivastava averaging 2.76 kills, 5.18 assists, 2.43 digs, 0.68 blocks and 0.33 aces per set and ranking in the top-3 in the team in every category.

Fellow sophomore and All-SCIAC selection Jessi Lumsden will also return to the left side. Lumsden's 3.8 points per set just edged out Srivastava's 3.5 points per set for the team lead. Lumsden slammed down a team-leading 3.39 kills per set with 27 aces and 2.19 digs per set. Sophomore Erika Wiles ended the season in the starting lineup opposite of Lumsden and will look to secure that spot once again.

Senior Nayelli Munoz will be back in the middle after averaging 0.77 blocks per set, including the most block assists in a season in Chapman's Division III history. She hit .203 with just over one kill per set. Junior Mavis Lui saw significant time on the right side, hitting .279 with 1.66 kills per set and will look to lock down a starting spot this season.

Last season's senior class left starting spots open at middle blocker, libero and a second setter if head coach Mary Cahill decides to stick with the 6-2. Eight new players make up the incoming freshman class and will be tasked with filling the three holes in the starting lineup.

The season begins Friday at the Pacific Coast Classic, where the Panthers will play four matches in two days. Chapman's home-opener doesn't come until SCIAC play begins on Sep. 21 when the Panthers host Caltech at 2 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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