Los Angeles, CA – Tonight the Occidental women's volleyball team hosted Chapman University for a match on Halloween night. The Panthers came into the match sitting in sixth in the conference. The match ended with Chapman winning the match 3-1, with set scores of 19-25, 25-12, 25-9, and 25-23.
The first set started off with each team trading the lead, but the score stayed close until Oxy pulled ahead 15-9 drawing the first Chapman timeout. Eliana Channell was a leader at the net, stringing a few kills and well placed tips to advance the Tiger lead to 22-13. Channell had the highest hitting percentage of the first set at .600. The Panthers began to make a comeback and reduced the deficit, but a swift kill by Ariana Carranza flipped the momentum back in the Tigers favor. She later came back with a cross-court kill to earn the set point, 25-19.
After suffering the first set loss, Chapman claimed the first four points of the second set. Channell had a strong block that prevented the Panther's defense from returning, even though they managed to get three touches on it. Later, Chapman's outside hitter had a strong attack down the line, but Lizzy Kerman was perfectly positioned to make a beautiful dig for her team. Oxy fell behind 16-8 halfway through the set. Despite the score, the team continued to battle with one play featuring a kick by Kerman to keep the rally alive. Chapman took the second set 25-12. At the end of the second set, Carranza was the match leader in kills at eight and had the highest hitting percentage at .667. Kerman was the match leader in assists and digs with 12 and nine, respectively.
After a rough showing in the third set, the fourth set featured a closer game and longer rallies. Oxy continued to chase after Chapman and took their first timeout at 11-6. Aniya Hawthorne and Kerman made a strong block duo before Hawthorne went on to get the next kill, drawing a Chapman timeout at 14-10. Hawthone followed with another kill which brought the Tigers within three points of the Panthers. The game came to a tie at 23 all after a great comeback by Oxy. With the match on the line, the Tigers put in a fight for a long rally, but eventually could not stop the strong offensive attack, falling 25-23.
Kerman ended her final home game with the Tigers by earning a double-double with 19 assists and 12 digs, making it her first double-double as a setter. Channell earned four blocks and had the highest hitting percentage for the Tigers at .438. Carranza contributed the most points to the Tiger score with 11.5, 11 of which were from kills. Leena Albelo tied Kerman for the most digs at 12 and had the most aces with two.
The Tigers travel to Claremont, CA on Saturday to face conference leaders Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for their final match of the season.
