Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. - On a night when the teams and many spectators donned pink to promote Breast Cancer Awareness, a loud and energetic crowd at the Graham Athletic Center was treated to a four set thriller, which ended in a loss for the Whittier College volleyball team as they fell 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-14 to Chapman University.

Whittier's hopes to make the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Tournament have now diminished as they drop to 7-15, 5-8 SCIAC.

The Poets trailed 1-0 in the first set but took the lead shortly thereafter with a 5-0 run, which included a strong serving performance from Torrey Mitsunaga (Culver City, Calif.).   The Purple & Gold would keep the momentum in their favor as they would maintain their lead at 20-16 following a kill from Malia Valdivieso (Chula Vista, Calif.).  But the lead would soon diminish as Chapman would come back to pull within two at 22-20 before rolling off five unanswered sparked by back to back to back kills from Michele Hammer, Ellen Cleveland, and Kat Marusich that gave CU an early 1-0 lead.

In the second, neither team could take a lead more than two until CU used a 4-0 run late, which proved crucial as they went ahead 20-15.  The Poets attempted a comeback pulling within one 21-20 after kills from Alexis Mills (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and Casie Lowden (Glendora, Calif.) and strong serving from freshman Vanessa Rodriguez (Wildumar, Calif.) but it wouldn't be enough as the Panthers would hold on for the 25-21 frame putting Whittier in an early 2-0 hole.

The Poets would comeback however in the third despite trailing early.  They would put together a nice run of four straight to move ahead 18-14 thanks to big kills from Mills, Valdivieso, and Rebecca Slattery (Los Altos, Calif.).  Chapman would then put together their own run to put pressure on the Purple & Gold but they would stand strong forcing a fourth winning 25-23.

In the final set it was all Chapman as they would storm out in front 10-5 and then 17-9 utilizing a lethal combo of Jade Santos and Val Geiger, which proved unstoppable up front allowing Chapman to come away with the 25-14 set and the match.

Slattery led the Poets on offense with 14 kills, while Lowden collected 11 to go with 17 digs, three assists, and a service ace.  Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) led the back row with 21 digs, whileJasmine Tong (Fullerton, Calif.) picked up 13. Mitsunaga finished with a strong game picking up 33 assists, 12 digs, and three blocks.

Geiger for Chapman led all scorers with 22 kills on 43 attempts for a .419 hitting percentage and was joined by Hammer who had 16 kills and 16 digs.  Santos collected a game high 52 assists and libero Andi Frisina had a game high 34 digs in the back row. 

The Poets return to the court this evening as they travel to Pasadena, Calif. to take on the Beavers of Caltech beginning at 6:00pm.