The MSJC women's volleyball team lost a hotly contested match on Wednesday night at home as they fell to Inland Empire Athletic Conference leader Chaffey 3-1.

The Eagles had a a chance to win the first set of the evening as they raced out to an early 17-12 lead, but a late rally by the Panthers allowed them to claim the first 28-26 as both teams made some exciting plays down the stretch.  MSJC would once again take an early led in the set number two, but again Chaffey rallied back this time to win 25-20.  The Eagles would take the third set 26-24 to force Chaffey into a fourth set.  In the fourth MSJC got off to a very slow start as they fell behind 12-4, but never gave in as they fought back cutting the lead all the way down to 24-23 before the Panthers earned the match winning point.

Makenzie Nutting led the Eagles offense on the night with 16 kills, Jacquiline Leanos had 10 kills, and Faith Galvan had 8.  Jacquline Barbosa had 42 assists on the night, while defensively Keona Escorpiso picked up a team high 14 digs.  Leanos also was a factor on defense with four block assists.

The loss was the Eagles first in Inland Empire Athletic Conference play and makes their record now 2-1 in conference, they are 7-9 overall.  Chaffey, the state's #13 ranked team improved to 17-1 overall and 4-0 in IEAC play.  MSJC will return to action on Friday night when they travel to Victor Valley College for a 5 pm match.  Next week the Eagles will play just once when they hit the road to Cerro Coso on October 30th, MSJC's next home match will be Wednesday November 6th when they host San Bernardino Valley College at 5 pm.