Volleyball knocks off No. 23 Oxy in SCIAC opener

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University volleyball team made its first-ever SCIAC match one to remember, upsetting No. 23-ranked Occidental College in five sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11) at the Hutton Sports Center on Friday night. The match was also the Panthers' first of the season on their home floor where they lost just once (6-1) in 2011.

Sophomore MB Val Geiger led Chapman (7-2, 1-0) in the fifth and deciding set with four of her career-high 20 kills in the match. Senior All-America MB Kate Ferrin sealed the victory with her 17th kill of the match to give the Panthers a 15-11 win in the tiebreaker.

Occidental (7-2, 0-1) forced the fifth set with a clutch rally in set four. The Tigers trailed by four midway through the set and then turned a 17-13 deficit into a 19-17 lead with six consecutive points, including three kills from senior OH Logan Boyer-Hayse. Oxy went on to score 12 of the set's final 15 points to win it 25-20. Boyer-Hayse led all players with 22 kills and added 15 digs.

After losing the first set 25-23, the Panthers won the next two 25-20 and 25-20 thanks in large part to the offense provided by senior OH Ashleigh Gideon who matched Geiger with a team-high 20 kills in the match – one short of her career-best. Gideon tallied eight of those kills in the third set alone to pace the Panthers who hit .421 in the set. Junior S Corrine Ostrovsky earned a new career-high with 62 assists in the match, as well.

Chapman's defense and passing game was led by junior L Carleigh Mueller's 45 digs. Gideon also pitched in with 31 digs as five Panthers earned double-digits in digs.

For Occidental, senior OH Kasey Rose earned a double-double with 14 kills and 21 digs, while junior OH Stephanie Gann finished with 12 kills.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Box score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wvball/2012-13/boxscores/20120914_5d2o.xml

Watch Coach Cahill's postgame interview
Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
#CUPanthers