The rubber match between nationally ranked teams went the way of No. 21 Chapman University as the Panthers used a potent attack to turn back No. 25 University of La Verne in three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-22 in the semifinals of the SCIAC Postseason Volleyball Tournament Thursday in Thousand Oaks.

The Panthers advance to Saturday's championship match against Cal Lutheran, which posted a 3-0 win over Occidental in the second semifinal.

Chapman (23-5) started strong, opening a lead of 7-3 before going up 11-5 to force a Leopard timeout.  La Verne closed within three on four different occasions before the Panthers later scored three consecutive points to take an 18-12 advantage to force a second La Verne timeout.  The Leopards crept within three at 23-20, but a kill from McKenna Roice gave CU a set point, and a kill from Val Geiger would close out the stanza with a 25-21 verdict in favor of the Panthers.

La Verne (21-5) opened the second set on the strength of a pair of blocks and a service ace from Monica Lopez to take an early 7-2 lead to force a Panther timeout.  The Leos extended the advantage to 9-2 before Chapman's serve and defense propelled an emphatic 8-0 run to take a 13-10 advantage.  Chapman continued to keep the Leopards off balance and pushed its lead to five at 16-11.   La Verne used a run of 4-0 to cut the deficit to a point at 19-18 to force a Panthers timeout.  A kill from Destinee Sales tied at frame at 19, but Chapman responded with three straight points to go up 22-19.    Chapman eventually closed out the set with a kill from Ashleigh Gideon to take a commanding 2-0 lead.

Gideon led the Panthers who hit .421 and posted a match-high 17 kills.  Geiger added 10 kills with Ferrin totaling 9 for Chapman.  Corinne Ostrovsky tallied 29 assists in the victory.  Yaxley paced La Verne with 15 terminations on her way to a .433 hitting clip.  Sales and Kayla Cribbs each registered 6 kills while Morgan Donahue collected a match-high 16 digs.