The University of Redlands women's water polo team
finished fourth in the three-day Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships in
Claremont from April 24-26, winning its first game before falling
in its final two contests.
Redlands, which entered as the No. 4 seed, used impeccable defense
to sink Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Friday, 5-3. The
Bulldogs faced a tough test in the Athenas, as they served as the
event's host and drew a home crowd for a 7 p.m. game. Both
goalkeepers batted away balls at will as junior goalkeeper Whitney
Schieler (Porterville, CA) stopped 14 shots while Abigail Woodruff
protected the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps net, notching 11 saves.
Redlands used a variety of scoring options as senior center Jen
Caron (San Dimas, CA), senior center Sam Greenawalt (Riverside,
CA), freshman center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR), senior driver
Claire Quinn (Fresno, CA) and sophomore driver Chandler Weeks (Palm
Desert, CA) all found the back of the net once.
Saturday's second round featured a matchup between the
Bulldogs and regular-season champion Cal Lutheran University. Both
teams unleashed a multitude of shots, but the Regals defended their
No. 1 seed with a 9-5 win over Redlands. Schieler served as the
defense's last resort once again and fared well, saving 14
shots. Greenawalt led the Maroon and Gray's scoring effort
with three goals while Quinn added two to spell out Redlands'
five-goal total. Ashley Bentz racked up a game-high four goals for
Cal Lutheran.
Finally, the squad's weekend ended with another defensive
stalemate, this time against Occidental College. Freshman driver
Kelli Moy (Honolulu, HI) fired home two goals to lead the Bulldogs,
but the Tigers came out on top in the end, winning by a slight 6-5
margin. Greenawalt, Quinn and freshman driver Taylor Johnson (Long
Beach, CA) all supplied one goal apiece while Schieler corralled a
game-high nine saves.
Redlands (13-18, 5-5 SCIAC) awaits official notification of a
potential bid to the Collegiate III National Tournament, which
occurs from Friday, May 1, through Sunday, May 3, at Cal
Lutheran's Samuelson Aquatic Center.
