Down but not out, Chapman rallies to defeat Claremont in five

ORANGE, Calif. – While it may not have been the prettiest of victories, the Chapman University volleyball team will most certainly take it. The Panthers out-lasted visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, defeating the Athenas 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13) in SCIAC play at the Hutton Sports Center on Friday night. The win extended Chapman's home winning streak to nine matches, including a perfect 5-0 record on its home floor this year.

It was far from Chapman's best match of the year as the Panthers struggled to find holes in the Claremont defense and often struggled to keep it within the lines. Chapman hit just .189 as a team and committed a season-high 35 attack errors. The Panthers have hit below .200 in just three other matches this year – all losses. Chapman also equaled its season high in service errors with eight.

And had it not been for late rally in the second set, Chapman (13-4 overall, 7-1 SCIAC) may very well have been swept by the Athenas.

Already trailing one-set-to-none, the Panthers were down 24-22 and faced set point by Claremont (11-6 overall, 4-5 SCIAC). Chapman staved off four separate set points and with the score tied 26-26 capitalized on a pair of attack errors by the Athenas to win 28-26 and even the match.

Claremont won the third set convincingly, but Chapman rallied in the fourth to win 25-20 thanks to the offense of senior OH Ashleigh Gideon and sophomore MB Val Geiger who combined for nine kills in the set. The Panthers carried that momentum over into the decisive fifth set and despite falling behind 11-10, scored five of the set's final seven points to win it. Geiger had another five kills in the final set and finished with a career-high 23 kills and added a pair of blocks.

Not to be outdone, Gideon also earned a career high, equaling Geiger with 23 kills and led all players with 29 digs. Chapman's 75 kills in the match were also a season high and fell just three short of the school record.

Junior setter Corrine Ostrovsky came within one helper of tying the all-time single match record with 67 assists. Also, junior OH Lena Buckendorf earned a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs.

For Claremont, which lost for the fourth time in its past five matches, sophomore OH Regina Mullen totaled 18 kills and 16 digs. Junior OH Megan Richman added 12 kills for the Athenas.

Chapman is glad to be done with Claremont, at least for the regular season. In both matches against the Athenas this year the Panthers had to rally back from a deficit to win the match in five sets. Chapman travels to Redlands to face the Bulldogs on Saturday at 1 p.m.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wvball/2012-13/boxscores/20121005_xxha.xml

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
#CUPanthers