WHITTIER, Calif.. – A top-25 upset was sandwiched by a pair of four-set wins as the Chapman University women's volleyball team had a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Whittier College Invitational. The Panthers defeated No. 19 Batten University in five sets to highlight the weekend.
Freshman Sasha Pugh continued to lead the way offensively, averaging 3.77 kills per set and hitting over .400 for the weekend. She set a new season-high with 24 kills in the upset victory. She also served five aces and had eight total blocks.
Pugh put down the final kill in the win over Batten for her 24th of the afternoon. Angelina Solis was another force offensively with 15 kills on .300 hitting over the five sets. She also served three aces and completed a double-double with 10 digs.
The Panthers and Marlins traded the first two sets and traded leads in the fifth before Pugh's final kill clinched the 25-16, 24-26, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13 victory.
Sammy Chambers and Kelsey Magley had the offense rolling through all three matches as the Panthers hit .280 over all 13 sets in the weekend. Chambers averaged 5.77 assists per set and Magley averaged 4.38. The Panthers hit well over .250 in each match, including a .296 clip in the four-set win over Whitman to start the weekend.
Defensively, Clara Cronin averaged just under four digs per set and Ava Bradbury came away with 13 total blocks.
The Panthers opened the weekend with an early morning match against Northwest Conference foe Whitman. They breezed through the first two sets and overcame a third set stumble to take the match 25-21, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20.
After Friday afternoon's upset over Batten, Chapman returned to Whittier and dropped its first set to Pacific. The wake up call was received as Chapman once again caught fire offensively to power the comeback 21-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15 win.
Chapman heads into a bye week before opening SCIAC play on Sep. 24 against Pomona-Pitzer at 7 p.m in the Hutton Sports Center.
