Volleyball run comes to an end in second round of Regionals
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Chapman University volleyball season came to an end in an all too familiar place on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers fell in the second round of the NCAA Division III West Regionals, losing in three sets to No. 12 University of Puget Sound (25-18, 28-26, 25-22) at the Gilbert Arena on the campus of Cal Lutheran University.
The Panthers had their season end in similar fashion in 2011, losing to Cal Lutheran in the same arena in the second round of last year's playoffs.
No. 21-ranked Chapman (24-7) fell victim to a tough Puget Sound team that out-served and out-blocked the Panthers en route the three-set sweep. The Loggers served up 10 aces, totaled nine blocks and hit .242 as a team in the match. Puget Sound (21-5) advances to the West Region championship match on Saturday and will face the winner of No. 7 Cal Lutheran and No. 25 University of La Verne.
Puget Sound jumped on the Panthers right away in the first set, building a 6-1 lead that prompted Chapman head coach Mary Cahill to call an early timeout. The Panthers never quite rebounded dropping the first set 25-18 thanks to six kills from junior OH Jackie Harvey. Harvey finished the match leading all players with 14 kills and added 16 digs.
The match slipped away from Chapman in the second set, which it never trailed until late when Puget Sound took an 18-17 lead. Chapman rallied for four consecutive points, but the Loggers refused to go away despite trailing 12-5 early and then 21-18. The Panthers served for set point at 24-22 and again at 25-24, but could not close it out and Puget Sound rallied to win 28-26 on back-to-back kills by junior OH Marissa Florant, who finished the match with nine.
Chapman again found itself playing catch up in the third set despite four kills from Panthers' senior MB Kate Ferrin, who tallied a team-high 13 kills. Harvey matched Ferrin with four kills of her own for Puget Sound which won 25-22 to clinch the win and advance to the finals.
Senior OH Ashleigh Gideon closed out an outstanding season with 13 kills in the match for Chapman, along with 13 digs. Panthers' junior S Corrine Ostrovsky tallied 37 assists and 10 digs.
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wvball/2012-13/boxscores/20121110_poa9.xml
Watch the postgame press conference with Coach Cahill, Ferrin and Ostrovsky here
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