#4 La Verne defeated #5 Chapman in four sets in the first round of the SCIAC Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday, November 10, in La Verne, Calif.

In the opening set, the Leopards led by as much as seven but saw the gap quickly close after the Panthers roared back. Down 16-9, Chapman tied the score at 17-17 with an 8-1 run. La Verne, though, did not fall behind, as it ended the frame with eight points in the final 11 rallies. 

Though the Leopards continued their momentum into the second set with an 8-3 advantage to start, the Panthers answered with five straight points to tie the score. The two teams then continued to trade points and were once again even at 19-19. However, Chapman won six of the final nine points in the stanza to win the set.

After a back-and-forth start to the third frame in which the Panthers led 12-11, La Verne finished the set on a 14-1 run. The run saw Mariah Ray and Lauren Gott put down a combined six kills.

Chapman scored the first point of the fourth set but did not lead thereafter, as the Leopards scored seven of the following eight points and did not look back. The Panthers eventually managed to cut the lead to four, down 13-9, but La Verne went on to close out the match with a 25-12 set win. 

Gott tallied a game-high 18 kills on .415 hitting to go along with 20 digs, while Jordyn McCoy dished out a team-best 28 assists.

The Leopards are now headed to Thousand Oaks to take on #1 California Lutheran in the SCIAC Semi-Finals on Thursday night at 7 p.m.