Story by Sebastián Abdón Ibarra, Sports Information Student Assistant

The University of La Verne volleyball team (7-10; 3-7 SCIAC) was defeated by the third-place Chapman Panthers (9-9; 7-3 SCIAC) on Friday night.

Set Scores: 25-20, 25-21, 25-21       

It was a tough loss for a Leo squad looking to gain ground in the SCIAC standings. The Leos lost the first set to Chapman and were down big 19-11 in the second set. La Verne responded to bring the game closer at 22-18 but was unable to reduce Chapman's lead to less than four.

The final set was much tighter throughout compared to the second set with Chapman unable to build a sizable lead, but the Leos were unable to overtake the Panthers. A roll off of the net on an Emily Heldenbrand serve and a Ha'ani Untalan kill on back-to-back plays reduced Chapman's lead to just 20-19. However, the Panthers gathered themselves and pulled ahead for the win.

Kari Esseff was the most effective scorer for the Leos with eight kills and a .300 kill percentage. Ayana Mier led La Verne in scoring once again with 12 kills. Mier has reached the double-digit kill mark in 14 of La Verne's 17 games this season, and she has reached that mark in seven of the team's past eight games. Emily Heldenbrand had 34 assists and seven digs.

Jessi Lumsden and Sophie Srivastava were Chapman's leading scorers with 12 and 11 kills respectively.

La Verne's next matchup is another important one as they face the second-place Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens today at 4:00 p.m. at the Voelkel Gymnasium in Claremont.