Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

ORANGE, Calif. – The Whittier College Volleyball team saw their five match winning streak come to a close Friday as they fell in straight sets 25-22, 26-24, 25-21 to Chapman University.

Whittier drops to 7-3, 1-1 SCIAC, while Chapman improves to 6-3, 1-0 SCIAC.

Every set was close with neither team able to take a lead of more than five points. 

Ashley Whittall (Norwalk, Calif.) led the Poets offensive attack with 13 kills, hitting .278, while Jazmyn Sudbrook-Johnson (Fremont, Calif.) had her best game of the season posting 11 kills on 20 attempts for a career high .450 hitting percentage.

It was a tough night for the Purple & Gold who have been playing red hot as of late, while achieving a National Ranking of No. 30.  The first set remained close early but CU was able to pull away midway through at 17-12.  Whittier mounted a comeback winning five of the next six points led by a combo of kills from Sudbrook-Johnson and Whittall, which made the score 18-17.  Later in the frame, Alexis Mills (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) would connect on a kill up the middle that kept the Poets within one at 21-20 but that's as close as they would get as an ensuing service error and attacking error would give the Panthers the margin they would need to clinch the first.

Whittier found their niche early in the second, while capitalizing on a few CU miscues.  Kills by Mills, Sudbrook-Johnson, and Whittall would put the Poets up 8-4, but that lead wouldn't hold as six of the next eight points would go with CU that deadlocked the frame at 10-10.  From that point, the set would become tied on four different occasions, with Whittier holding a one point lead five different times but again none would stick as Chapman would finish off the frame winning three of the final four points that put WC in a hole.

Five in a row by Chapman in the third set the pace for the final stanza.  Clarissa Standafer (Alta Loma, Calif.) nailed an ace midway through at 13-13 and Alaina Rhee (Kent, WA) got into the action with a kill soon after but again four of the next five points would go with CU as they would extend their lead to three.  Whittier was able to continue fighting pulling within one at 19-18 but again they couldn't stop the Panther offensive attack as they would grab four of the final six points to clinch the sweep.

Standafer led the back row with 14 digs and Camryn Purdom (Moreno Valley, Calif.) tossed in a double double with 18 assists and 10 digs.     

Whittier remains on the road this Tuesday, September 19 as they travel to take on Occidental College beginning at 7:00pm.