Chapman Upsets No. 1 Riverside

ORANGE — There were many times Wednesday night when the Chapman College women’s volleyball team looked ready to fold. And that would have been understandable.

Sure, the Panthers are the fifth-ranked team in the nation according to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II poll. But on Wednesday, they were playing No. 1 UC Riverside--a team that had lost only once all season and had won 11 consecutive matches.

But when all was said and done, the Panthers looked more like No. 1 than No. 1 did.

Chapman withstood every challenge in the final two games to defeat Riverside, 12-15, 15-2, 8-15, 15-10, 15-10, in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. match in front of 300 spectators at Chapman.

The victory left the Panthers (22-2 overall, 6-0 in CCAA play) alone in first place in the conference and should improve their national ranking.

But more than that, it may have been a moment when Chapman’s players realized how good they can be.

“When we were able to hold off Riverside in Game 4, I think we started to believe in ourselves a little more,” Chapman Coach Mary Cahill said. “I told the girls to be ready in the next game, because they were going to come after us.”

Riverside did, taking a 4-1 lead. The Highlanders were still in front, 6-4, when the Panthers made their move.

“All I could think about was we had to play tough,” said Chapman’s Dana Beardsley, who had a game-high 25 kills. “We just had to hang on.”

The Panthers did. Rather tenuously at times, but they did hang on.

Rena Strange made three blocks as Chapman took a 10-8 lead. Karen Burley then finished Riverside off with two blocks and a kill.

“We are such a close team, that no one can keep us down,” Beardsley said. “We kept telling each other that all through the match.”

After splitting the first two games, the Highlanders (15-2, 5-1) looked every bit the No. 1 team in Game 3. The Highlanders trailed, 8-5, but scored 10 unanswered points behind the play of Sheri Benson, who had 22 kills in the match.

But the Panthers held on in Game 4. They saw a 10-4 lead evaporate, but with the score tied 10-10, Debi Waller (15 kills) scored on a kill, then made two blocks to force a fifth game.

“I don’t think Riverside took us too seriously,” Cahill said. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. But they never saw us play, never scouted us. We saw them and knew what to expect. I think we got a little more respect tonight.”