Chapman women's volleyball ends season with conference championship appearance

Members of the Chapman women’s volleyball team celebrate in a group huddle after defeating the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Semifinals Nov. 4. Photo courtesy of Steven Olveda

Coming back to the courts post-pandemic, Chapman women’s volleyball picked right up from where they started back in 2019 — the year the Panthers lost three straight sets to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Finals.. The team experienced deja vu when, at this year’s SCIAC Finals, they were, yet again, matched up against Claremont Mckenna College’s athletic program. 

When head coach Mary Cahill saw that they were playing CMS again, she said The Panthers were eager to get on the courts against a team that has won four SCIAC titles in the last five seasons.

“CMS is a strong program; they’ve been in the championships for a long time,” Cahill said. We lost to them in five (sets here at Chapman during senior night), so we were excited to get a chance (to play them again).”

Entering the final competition, the Panthers were 13-12, and the CMS Athenas were 26-1 — ranked third in the nation. The match came down to the wire, and unfortunately for the Panthers, they fell to CMS in five sets. But the result of the tight match did not take away from everything the team accomplished this season, according to Jessi Lumsden, a senior business administration major and team captain for women’s volleyball.

Chapman women’s volleyball coach Mary Cahill watches The Panthers practice before the SCIAC Semifinals match. DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor

Lumsden highlighted the team’s Nov. 4 win in three sets against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in the SCIAC Semifinals as an example; having previously lost to the Sagehens in three sets Oct. 30, Lumsden saw the win as a major victory for her team.

“(The SCIAC Semifinals) was a really important game, obviously, because if we won that game, we went to the championship,” Lumsden explained. “So, those three or four days we had at practice (before playing Pomona-Pitzer) were the hardest I think I’ve seen our team work. We wanted to go out there and leave it all out on the floor, and I think we were able to do that both Thursday (against Pomona-Pitzer) and Saturday (against CMS).”

Cat Hegelson, a junior health science major and libero, agreed with Lumsden and recognized the growth the team experienced over the course of the season.

“It’s probably one of the best games we played as a team, so we were really happy with each other,” Hegelson said. “Even though (the Panthers) didn’t come out with a win, we still thought that we improved from the beginning of the season to that game and we were definitely a much better team by the end of it.”

This season marked setter and right side hitter Sophie Srivastava’s last. The senior psychology major is saddened at the thought of not competing anymore, but is hopeful the team can build off of their success heading into the offseason.

“I lost a whole year — the whole team lost a whole year, so I think that made this season even more special and more important to me,” Srivastava said. “And I’d give anything to go back and do it right now and keep going forever and ever, but everything comes to an end. I’m happy with how it went and excited to see what the team does next year.”

At the beginning of the season, the team had issues with a COVID-19 outbreak. But this rough transition back to an in-person environment only drove Lumsden and her teammates to compete even harder this season and connect with one another.

Chapman women’s volleyball players jump up for a block during a team practice. DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor

Hegelson told The Panther her favorite moments of the season were when she and her teammates would spontaneously rally. She recalled the frenzy of players diving to the ground and trying to get the ball over the net, or unintentionally kicking the volleyball over the net and scoring a point. Sometimes a play-gone-wrong would even turn into an accidental victory.

For Srivastava, her favorite moment of the season was her senior night, which was a home game against CMS where the team also lost in five sets. However, Srivastava said the loss did not prevent her from enjoying the entire experience, as she fondly remembers the excitement of seeing her teammates and the crowd cheer her on.

“We came out with so much energy… even the bench players, they were so fired up, so excited to be there,” Srivastava said. “I could feel everybody else was so into the game … and so, even though we lost, we still cheered for ourselves, and we were happy with the result. And it was a little bittersweet because it was my last home game.”

Lumsden said this year provided a much-needed sense of closure to cap off her career as a student athlete at Chapman.

“Going into this last year I wanted to just go out there and give it my all,” Lumsden said. “I think this season has made us all stronger, not only as volleyball players, but as individuals, and that’s something that I will hold very close to my heart when I graduate college. I would do anything and give anything for this team.”