Orange, Calif. – The women's volleyball team dropped their third straight match on Wednesday night, falling 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-13) to Chapman University, in a non-conference match. The Panthers were looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Golden Eagles and even the season series, after dropping their first meeting in straight sets, to La Sierra, back on September 25.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the Set 1, before the Panthers answered back to tie the score at 5-5 in the early going. The two teams played a tight back-and-forth match until the Panthers crept out to a 3-point lead (23-20) in the latter stages of Set 1. The Golden Eagles rattled off four straight points to take a 24-23 lead. But Chapman used 3-0 run of their own to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 26-24 win in Set 1.
Set 2 was another close contest. The Panthers pushed out to a 7-11 lead midway through the set, which proved to be the largest lead either team would have in Set 2. An 8-1 run by La Sierra vaulted them into the lead, at 15-12, it was a lead they would hold until both teams were locked in an18-18 tie. But once again it was Chapman who was able to pull out another set that could have gone either way, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The young Golden Eagles squad was unable to rebound in Set 3, falling 25-13, despite another strong match from Taylor Moran who finished with 11 kills and a .348 hitting percentage. Michele Mendizabal tallied a team-high 12 kills, while Kiana Krumm added seven kills in the match.
Krumm led the team with 13 digs, with Emily Morgan and Daniella Alvarez contributing nine digs apiece.
Setters Smriti Sharma and Marissa Fregoso directed the offense with 18 assists and 17 assists, respectively.
The Panthers controlled the play at the net, both offensively and defensively, which proved to be the difference in the match. Chapman collected an attack percentage of .327, compared to .185 for the Golden Eagles. The Panthers also finished with 10 total team blocks, to only three total team blocks for La Sierra.
The loss drops the Golden Eagle women's volleyball team to 7-8 on the season. They will now turn their attention towards two Cal Pac matches this coming weekend. On Friday, the team will host the University of Antelope Valley, in a 3pm match. That match will be followed with a Saturday night match-up with the University of California – Merced, which is scheduled for a 730pm first serve.
