ORANGE, Calif. - The No. 5 Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team competed against the Chapman Panthers in a four-set thriller, with both teams playing their best volleyball, and pulled out a 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22) victory on Tuesday night.

Chapman came out strong in the first set and controlled the ball most of the time. The Regals were down by six, 15-9, came back and scored three points to cut the lead almost in half, 16-12. The deficit, however, was too much for the Regals to overcome, and Chapman stole the first set 25-17.

The Regals were down in the second set after Chapman scored five points in a row, putting the score 6-1, although CLU had to push forward and was able to close the gap and tie the set at 10. The Regals scored the next three points with Nicki Tetherow behind the back line, putting the score 12-10 CLU. The Panthers would not stop challenging the Regals defense and tied the set again at 13 all but the Regals continued to drive through Chapman with Carly Rose Howard on service. They put four points on the scoreboard to take a 17-14 lead and capped off the comeback with a 25-21 set victory to even the score.

The third set was filled with back-and-forth play. The Panthers started with the first three points but the Regals snapped right back with three of their own. The deadlock ensued from there, Chapman had a four-point lead in which the Regals came back and scored six points to take the lead, 15-14. The Regals were able to hold this lead until the end after adding six points to their lead and took the set 25-20.

The theme continued with the Panthers taking an early lead in the fourth set. The Regals were able to come back from a seven-point deficit. They were down 11-4 and only gave the Panthers three points in their scoring drive to make the score 14-11. The Regals put up four more points in a row taking the lead for the first time in the set, 18-16. CLU was ultimately able to hold off Chapman long enough to pull out the win, 25-22.

Hope Stewart had an incredible day and led the Regals with a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs. Sarah Pappas would follow her with nine kills of her own. Amanda Roberts had the same number of kills as digs, finishing at six. Jamie Smith and Steph Rolfson both assisted in the match with 24 and 14, respectively. Dani Gonzalez ended with eight digs, while Tetherow had 19.

Cal Lutheran (19-4, 10-2 SCIAC) will host a much anticipated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match-up against the No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas (18-1, 10-1 SCIAC) in Gilbert Arena this Friday, Oct. 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Box Score: CLU 3, CU 1
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