Women's volleyball falls in four in SCIAC semis

ORANGE, Calif. – The season came to an end for the Chapman University volleyball team with a 25-10, 25-13, 19-25, 26-24 loss to second-seeded Cal Lutheran. The Panthers (19-8) came out strong in the third and fourth sets but couldn't overcome the early hole.

Freshman Sophie Srivastava led the Panthers with her 10th triple-double of the season. She had 10 kills, 13 assists and 11 digs in the four-set loss. She finishes the season ranked second in Division III for triple-doubles.

Cal Lutheran (18-10) pulled away early in the first set, holding Chapman to a negative hitting percentage. The Panthers began the second set with a 6-0 run, including a pair of aces from senior Jessica Blum. However, the Regals stormed back and pulled away for a 2-0 lead in the match.

The teams went back-and-forth in the third set as Chapman refused to go quietly. Back-to-back kills from senior Lauren Friend gave the Panthers an 11-9 lead. After falling behind 17-16, freshman Jessi Lumsden and Friend pounded down back-to-back kills to regain the lead.

Chapman continued to pull away, leading by as many as five points after a six-point run to make it 22-17. The Panthers fought off a couple of sideouts from Cal Lutheran to capture the third set and extend the season.

Friend ended the match with nine kills and a pair of blocks. Junior Nayelli Munoz had seven total blocks. Senior Sara Utsugi finished her career with 24 digs in the match while senior Lindsey Johnson hitting six kills.

The Regals broke open a tight set late in the fourth and brought up match point at 24-19.After a block from Srivastava and Friend to sideout, the Panthers rolled off four more points to tie the match at 24-24 on another block from Srivastava and Munoz.

Taylor Johnson broke the run with a kill for the Regals and Maci Haddad put away the match-clinching kill on the next point. Chapman hit .064 in the match while Cal Lutheran hit .213.

The Panthers season comes to a close with a 19-8 record and took third in the SCIAC.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChapmanSports