Boxscore

The University of La Verne fought back from an 8-3 deficit in the fifth set by rallying past Chapman 17-15 in the final frame to post a spirited 3-2 home triumph over the Panthers in SCIAC volleyball action Tuesday night at Frantz Athletic Court.

Set scores were 15-25, 25-18, 25-17, 20-25 and 17-15.

After the Panthers took the opening set, the Leopards stormed back to take a 2-1 lead only to watch Chapman take the fourth frame to set up a fifth and deciding set.

Chapman went on a 5-0 run early in the fifth frame on the strength of two service aces from Carleigh Mueller to take an 8-3 lead on the Leopards.  La Verne would chip away at the lead, and eventually drew even on a kill from Destinee Sales to knot the set at 12. 

The Panthers responded with two straight points on a Val Geiger kill along with a Leopard attack error to go up 14-12, but Chapman, merely a point away from claiming victory, never got there as La Verne would twice fight off match point.  A Kayla Cribbs kill knotted the set at 15, and a subsequent Panther error gave La Verne its first match point of the contest at 16-15.  Brittany Yaxley closed out the match by posting the final kill of the night to lift the Leopards to the come-from-behind win.

The Leopards didn't start the match off as strong, as the Panthers jumped out to leads of 13-6 and 21-10.  A kill by Chapman's Ashleigh Gideon finished off a 25-15 set win for the Panthers and a 1-0 lead.

La Verne reversed fortunes in the second stanza, jumping out to an 14-7 lead on the strength of a 9-2 run.  La Verne would extend its advantage to 22-11 en route to taking the set by a 25-18 margin. 

The Leopards continued their momentum as they never trailed in the third set, opening a 14-8 advantage.  A kill from Sales pushed the La Verne lead to 18-10, and later a kill by Yaxley gave the Leos a 22-14 cushion.  A kill from Randi Taylor-Toomay concluded the frame with the Leopards prevailing 25-17.  The Green and Orange enjoyed its best offensive performance in the third set, hitting .342 including 16 kills.

Chapman, which entered the contest unbeaten in conference play, used three straight service aces from Lena Buckendorf to take an early 6-2 advantage in the fourth set.  The Panthers maintained their margin and grabbed a 21-15 lead on an ace from Corrine Ostrovsky.  Chapman would eventually take the set, 25-20 to force a fifth and deciding set. 

La Verne hit .200 in the final set compared to .139 for the Panthers.  Cribbs tallied five kills in the fifth frame, including kills on three straight Leopard points to help propel the Leos to victory.

Taylor-Toomay totaled a match-high 24 kills on the evening to post 20+ kills in her third consecutive match.  Cribbs added 14 kills while Yaxley chipped in with 11.  Leopard setter Kendall Kraiss recorded a match-high 42 assists. 

Chapman's Val Geiger led her squad offensively with 15 kills while Gideon collected a match-high 29 digs in the defeat.

The contest was La Verne's first-ever meeting with Chapman in SCIAC competition. 

With the win, the Leopards improve to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play while Chapman dropped to 10-3 and 4-1, respectively.

La Verne continues league action Friday night as it plays host to Caltech on Friday night in a 7:30 pm start.