ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory over La Verne earlier this evening, 25-18, 22-25, 25-9, 25-16. Sophomore Sophie Srivastava tallied her 10th triple-double this season, tying her single-season record from last year.

The Leopards came out strong, taking an early 8-3 lead in the first set. Chapman fought back to take the next two points before La Verne sophomore Haley Celaya put down a big kill to make it 9-5. The two sides traded a few points back-and-forth until the Panthers brought it within one point on a bad set.

The Leopards went on a 6-1 tear to take an 18-12 lead. Cue the hot hand of senior Eve Silverman. With the outside hitter serving up stingers, the Panthers scored 13 unanswered points to take the first set 25-18.

With the memory of 13 straight points still in their minds, the Leopards scored six straight to start off the second set. La Verne kept a steady lead throughout the set until Chapman scored four in a row to make it 21-19. Three different Leopards tallied kills to end the set and tie the match at one apiece.

With freshman Cat Helgeson at the line serving, the Panthers jumped out to their biggest lead of the match. Chapman annihilated the Leopards, scoring 14 points in a row to take a 14-0 lead in the third set. La Verne attempted to claw its way back, but the Panthers put them away with 12 kills, no errors and a 0.387 hitting percentage.

With the momentum swinging in their favor, the Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the fourth set. A couple of kills and an attack error brought La Verne back within three points, but Chapman quickly extended their lead to 12-7. After trading a couple of points through the middle of the set, the Panthers went on a 5-1 run with junior Mavis Lui tallying the final kill to take the match.

With her 10th triple-double tonight, Srivastava currently leads all three divisions of the NCAA in the category. She tallied a team-high 16 kills while adding 17 assists and 15 digs. Helgeson was all over the court, tallying 31 digs and six assists.

Sophomore Jessi Lumsden was a force at the net, slamming down 15 kills while also tallying 15 digs. The Panthers hit .230 while holding the Leopards to just a 0.077 hitting percentage.

The Panthers were tough to deal with at the net, putting up 20 total blocks. Senior Nayelli Munoz led the effort with seven assisted blocks. Lui assisted on four while sophomore Erika Wiles assisted on three. Lumsden put down a couple of solo blocks to add to the fun.

The Panthers head on the road to Cal Lutheran on Friday night before returning to Hutton Sports Center on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. to host Whittier College.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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