Chaparral Women's Volleyball Kickoffs the Season at OWT

College of DuPage women's volleyball team kicked off the start of the 2025 campaign at the Opening Weekend Tournament in Rockford, Illinois.  

The Chaparrals were led in the first match of the day by Claire Rambasek who hit at .350 hitting percentage versus national foe Finger Lakes Community College.  The women's volleyball team has had a tremendous amount of success versus the Lakers over the last several years.  Each of the last three national championships the DuPage women have knocked Finger Lakes out of contention for the national championship in tournament play.

The first game of the day went back and forth as both teams seemed to have had the 'first game jitters'!  The Chaps settled in and came out with the first set win of 25-20.  

The Chaparrals took control of the second game and won convincingly 25-20 now being up 2-0 in the match.

During the third frame the Lady Chaps got down early in the set.  The women ended up coming back late in the set to get within two points, but ultimately fell short in the third set 23-25.  The Lakers took the third game and the match was closer at 2-1.

The Chaps finished off the Lakers in the fourth set by winning 25-21 and ultimately winning the match 3-1.  The Chaparrals are 1-0 on the year, and play St. Cloud College later this afternoon. 

College of DuPage wins their first game of the season and are 1-0 with a (25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20) 3-1 set match.


During the second match of the day, the Lady Chaparrals finished off St. Cloud Community College winning in straight sets 25-18, 25-21, 25-18.

The Chaps were led by Cailen Sadkowski and Samantha Hornbogen who dominated with their attack.  Sadkowski was .500 on her attack and S. Hornbogen was right behind swinging .286 during the match.  Returning All-American Francesca Brandonisio was fantastic on the back end with her defense.  Frankie had 11 digs and 26 receive assists.  She also led the Chaps with 7 service aces during the match.

All in all it was a fantastic day for the Lady Chaparral volleyball team finishing day 1 of the OWT tournament by beating both preseason top 10 teams with Finger Lakes at #4 and St. Cloud at #7. 

College of DuPage wins their second game of the season and are 2-0 on the season.  They defeated St. Cloud Community College (25-18, 25-21, 25-18)