Volleyball rolls to 3-0 victory over Caltech

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's volleyball team rolled to a 25-11, 25-10, 25-20 victory over Caltech on Wednesday night. The Panthers (14-10, 8-6 SCIAC) were led on offense and defense by junior Lauren Friend, who recorded 10 kills on .692 hitting and tallied five blocks.

The Beavers (2-20, 0-14 SCIAC) took an early lead in the first set on a Chapman attack error, which would prove to be their only lead of the set. Chapman struck back with five unanswered points with help from two kills from senior Kylie Cooke. Caltech pulled within two points to make the score 6-4 but the Panthers came back with six points in a row to regain a strong lead, half of those coming on kills from Friend.

Cooke, Friend, and juniors Lindsey Johnson and Courtney Justus each alternated kills to help Chapman take the first set 25-11.

Caltech started the second set in similar fashion, scoring the first point on a kill by junior Sakthi Vetrivel. The Panthers took the next three points, but a couple of attack errors on Chapman tied the game up at three. Kills from three different Panthers and a service ace from junior Kaitlyn Raymundo helped score seven unanswered points to run away with the set. Two kills from Cooke and a service ace from Justus lifted the Panthers to a second set victory.

The Beavers came out strong in the third set, going up 2-0 right off the bat off a kill from sophomore Lauren Li and a service ace from sophomore Ellie Walker. The two teams exchanged points throughout the majority of the set as Caltech came back to tie the score seven times. A Chapman service error tied the set at 15, but a couple of Beaver errors and two kills from Justus put the Panthers up 19-15. Caltech couldn't come back from the four-point deficit, and two tough kills from Johnson and sophomore Karly Eastley ended the set and the match.

Friend recorded four block assists and one solo block to lead the team with five total blocks. Cooke and freshman Mavis Lui each tallied two blocks to help the Chapman defense.

The Panthers head to Pomona-Pitzer on Friday but return home on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 3 p.m. to face Occidental and honor their seniors in their final home match of the season.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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