ORANGE —The Chapman Panthers (9-11. 4-5 SCIAC) roared back in five sets to defeat No. 12 La Verne (15-4, 7-2 SCIAC) in five sets Tuesday night. Chapman junior Olivia Sampson led the Panthers with 17 kills on the game while junior Olivia Harrison contributed a team high six blocks. 

Chapman came out strong in the first set defeating La Verne 25-22. Throughout that first set, the Panthers went on a 6-2 scoring run and set the tone for the surprising opening set up, closing it out on a 3-0 run. 

In the second and third sets, La Verne ripped back control of the game winning both 25-19 and 25-15 respectively. In the third set, the Leopards went on a 12-0 scoring run led by senior Allison Whiteman who had five aces on that run, and sophomore Lauren Gott who added four kills. 

Down, but not yet out, Chapman took the bull by the horns in the fourth and fifth sets to defeat national powerhouse. The Panthers opened up a massive lead going on an 8-0 run early in the fourth set. Brooke Leslie fueled it with five kills throughout that set. 

The fifth set was almost all Chapman, with the Panthers winning 15-11 to take the match. Sampson helped the Panthers close out their biggest victory of the day with three kills in the final set. 

Chapman will head on the road on Friday, October 26 to play at the University of the Redlands at 7:00 p.m. on FloSports.