Sole possession of first place back in Chapman hands
ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University volleyball team assumed sole possession of first place in the SCIAC on Saturday night, defeating visiting University of La Verne in four sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 27-25) in a conference match at the Hutton Sports Center. The Panthers (17-4 overall, 10-1 SCIAC) moved a one half game ahead of Cal Lutheran (9-1) and La Verne (10-2) in the standings, just percentage points ahead of each.
Chapman rallied from a first set defeat to win three straight against the Leopards and avenge a five-set September road loss to La Verne.
The match was decided at the net for Chapman which set a season-high with 11 team blocks. Junior OH McKenna Roice led the way with a career-high eight block assists and was one of three Panthers with double-digit kills with 11. Sophomore MB Val Geiger added six block assists and eight kills.
In the pivotal third set, Chapman took command midway through, building leads of 14-10 and 17-13. However, La Verne would not go away, rallying back to tie the score both times, but never led. Senior MB Kate Ferrin earned five of her match-high 17 kills in the set to pace the Panthers.
With La Verne (17-3 overall) leading the fourth set 17-13, Chapman went on to score eight of the next 10 points to take a 21-19 lead and never trailed from that point. Senior OH Ashleigh Gideon led the Panthers comeback with five kills in the set as Chapman won it 27-25. Gideon finished with 14 kills and a team-high 23 digs in the match.
La Verne won the first set 25-23 thanks to senior OH Randi Taylor-Toomay who had seven of her team-high 16 kills in the set.
The loss snapped the Leopards nine-match winning streak and gave Chapman five straight wins. The Panthers have also won 11 consecutive home matches dating back to 2011.
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wvball/2012-13/boxscores/20121013_e2ie.xml
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