The University of Redlands volleyball team continued a tough stretch of top Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponents on Saturday with a home bout against the first-place Panthers of Chapman University.  The Bulldogs put together a solid performance in the opening stanza but were unable to hold off the opponents in a 23-25, 8-25, 16-25 defeat.

During the first frame, an incredibly tight battle ensued with neither team mustering more than a two-point lead en route to multiple knotted scores.  Long rallies were complemented by scrappy defensive plays on both sides of the net.

Tied at 20-all, Chapman looked to the stellar play of sophomore middle blocker Val Geiger (Palos Verdes, CA), who knocked down one of her match-high 17 kills and then joined forces with junior setter Corrine Ostrovsky (Simi Valley, CA) for a big block on consecutive points.

Following a Bulldog timeout, Redlands answered with two points of its own as sophomore right-side hitter Jackie Starks (Long Beach, CA) and freshman middle blocker Cierra Stevens (Palm Springs, CA) returned the favor with a well-timed block and a Starks put-away.

With the score even at 22 apiece, the Panthers needed to talk it over with their first timeout of the match. 

The squads traded punches before back-to-back offensive errors by the Maroon and Gray led to the first-set defeat.

Chapman (14-4, 8-1 SCIAC) maintained its momentum in the subsequent stanzas, dramatically improving upon its attack with a .361 showing in the second before eventually pulling away in the third.

Besides Geiger, the Panthers benefitted from the 10-kill, 11-dig effort of junior outside hitter Lena Buckendorf (El Dorado Hills, CA), along with Ostrovsky's 42 assists.

Redlands gained a team-high 11 kills from junior outside hitter Morgan Buckner (San Rafael, CA) to go along with her Bulldog-best 13 digs.

The Maroon and Gray (5-10, 1-8 SCIAC) looks forward to traveling to Pasadena on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. match-up against the Caltech Beavers.