ORANGE, Calif. — The Chapman University women's volleyball team swept Caltech to clinch the final spot in next week's SCIAC Tournament. Chapman had to come back from an early hole in the first two sets and sprinted away in the third for a 25-20, 25-20, 25-11 win.
The Panthers hit .280 as a team while holding the Beavers to just .102 on the night. Sasha Pugh once again led the offense with 16 kills on .429 hitting while Boyd Killion came off the bench to hit six kills on 11 swings without an error.
Clara Cronin' 19 digs led the defense in the back row while Sammy Chambers had 13 digs with 30 assists. Gray McKee served four aces.
With the win, the Panthers clinched a spot in the SCIAC Tournament First Round match next Tuesday. A win in Saturday's regular season finale at Redlands paired with a La Verne loss would jump the Panthers into fourth place to host the First Round match. A loss or a La Verne win would send the Panthers on the road.
The Panthers fought back from early deficits in both the first and second sets. A 10-3 run in the first, turned a four-point deficit into a three-point advantage at 17-14. Around the same point of the second set, the Panthers made another 7-1 run to erase a four-point deficit and take a 16-14 advantage.
The third set belonged to the Panthers as they hit .333 in the clinching set and held Caltech to .057 hitting.
The regular season comes to a close on Saturday at Redlands at 2 p.m.
