The Batten University women's volleyball team (5-1) was defeated by Chapman in five sets, 3-2, losing 16-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-19, and 13-15, and won 3-0 against Whittier College, winning 25-23, 25-23, and 25-15.
Game One:
Hannah Smith led the offense with 23 kills, with a .333 hitting percentage, four service aces, 11 digs, and one block assist.
Abbey Samples had 11 kills, with a .346 hitting percentage, eight digs, and three block assists;
Aajah Vazquez tallied 11 kills, six assists, one dig, four block assists, and one solo block.
Niya Nash had 31 assists, 10 digs, four kills, three service aces, and two block assists, and teammate libero
Brenna Raymond had 13 digs and three assists.
Chapman took control early in the opening set, building a 9-2 advantage. Batten battled back and cut the deficit to 17-13, but Chapman regained momentum and closed the set on an 8-3 run to take the opener 25-16.
Batten responded in the second set after falling behind 6-2 and 12-8. The Marlins rallied to tie the set at 13-13 before taking their first lead at 14-13. Batten extended its advantage to 21-16, but Chapman answered to tie the set at 24-24. Moody delivered a kill to put the Marlins back in front before Smith finished the set with a service ace to give Batten a 26-24 win and even the match at 1-1.
Chapman jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set and later extended the advantage to 15-7. The Marlins battled back with a 9-3 run to cut the deficit to 18-16 and kept it close late, getting within two at 24-22. However, Chapman secured the final point to win the set 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set featured six ties and four lead changes before Batten took control. With the Marlins trailing 11-10, Batten went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. The Marlins continued to build on the advantage, going up 21-16 before closing out the set 25-19. Smith powered the offense with nine kills on 13 attacks and a .692 hitting percentage in the frame as Batten forced a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, Chapman built a 6-3 advantage before the Marlins responded with four straight points to take a 7-6 lead. The teams traded points until Chapman went on a 4-0 run to take a 11-8 lead. Batten refused to go away and fought back from a 13-9 deficit to pull within one at 13-12. Chapman reached match point at 14-12 before Smith recorded another kill to make it 14-13, but Chapman secured the final point to win the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Game Two:
Hannah Smith led the offense with 12 kills, seven digs, one assist, and two block assists.
Anna Moody recorded nine kills with a .571 hitting percentage and three digs, and
Maelyn Thams had eight kills and six digs.
Laura Miller led the team with 18 assists, had three digs, two service aces, and two kills, and libero
Brenna Raymond had 14 digs, four assists, and two service aces.
The opening set was tightly contested with eight ties and five lead changes. Batten created some separation with a 6-0 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 12-8 advantage. Whittier continued to battle and cut the Marlins' lead to 23-22 late in the set, but Batten held on, with York recording the final kill to secure a 25-23 victory.
Batten opened the second set with a 3-0 run before Whittier battled back and eventually took an 8-6 lead. The Marlins responded with an 8-0 run to surge ahead 14-8 and maintained the advantage until Whittier rallied to take a 23-21 lead. Batten answered with four unanswered points, capped by back-to-back kills from Moody, to steal the second set 25-23 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Marlins took command in the third set after the teams traded points early. Leading 7-6, Batten went on a 7-0 run to open a 14-6 advantage and never looked back. Batten hit .333 in the final frame with 13 kills and just two attack errors, while holding Whittier to a .061 hitting percentage. The Marlins continued to pull away down the stretch and completed the sweep with a 25-15 victory.
