The University of Redlands women's water polo team kicked off the 2009 season on Sunday with the first of two Redlands Mini-Tournaments and captured mixed results in its two games.  Against familiar foe Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, the Bulldogs suffered a tough 7-9 loss to the Sagehens before rebounding with an exciting 17-16 overtime victory against Division II opponent Cal State San Bernardino.  In addition, Cal State San Bernardino took down the Sagehens by a score of 11-9 in the non-Redlands contest, creating a triangle of results between the three teams.

In the opener, the Bulldogs gained three goals apiece from senior center Sam Greenawalt (Riverside, CA) and senior driver Claire Quinn (Fresno, CA).  In addition, freshman driver Taylor Johnson (Long Beach, CA) scored once in the loss.  Between the pipes, junior goalkeeper Whitney Schieler (Porterville, CA) made 12 stops but it wasn't enough to ward off the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.

However, Redlands rebounded in its next contest and prevailed in overtime by a score of 17-16, taking down the Coyotes of CSUSB.  Once again Greenawalt performed well, this time notching an impressive seven goals.  Quinn added three, while freshman center Jamie Paul (Sandy, OR), senior driver Reichert Smith-Jones (Annapolis, MD), and freshman driver Kelli Moy (Honolulu, HI) each chipped in two goals.  Freshman driver Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) rounded out the scoring with one.  Schieler made five important saves to preserve the hard-fought victory.

The Bulldogs (1-1) head to the UC San Diego Triton Invitational on February 7-8.