After four tournament matches over the weekend, the University of Redlands volleyball team returned to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition with a four-set victory over the visiting Leopards of the University of La Verne during "SCIAC Spike Out Breast Cancer Night" in Currier Gym.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in the opening set and held on for the 25-23 win, before dropping the second set by a score of 19-25. The Maroon and Gray fought back from a seven-point deficit in the third stanza to earn the 25-18 victory and then held off the Leopards in the fourth frame, prevailing by a score of 26-24.

Redlands garnered a 4-1 lead in the first set off of tough serving by freshman defensive specialist Gabriela Levesque (Santa Monica, CA) and the team's overall effective hitting. But La Verne answered by tying it up at five all, forcing a back-and-forth battle to ensue until 12-12. From here, the Leopards earned a three-point lead and kept the Bulldogs at bay with two kills each by sophomore outside hitter Randi Toomay-Taylor (Glendora, CA) and sophomore setter Kendall Kraiss (Huntington Beach, CA). However, Bulldog senior outside hitter Jackie Hamilton (Loma Linda, CA) put away one of her 10 kills on the night and provided a solo block, while freshman setter Alisha Cornick (Hollister, CA) came up with a well-timed service ace to tie it up at 22. After the teams traded points, the Bulldogs nabbed the win with consecutive kills by senior middle blocker Kirby McCord (Huntington Beach, CA) and freshman outside hitter Morgan Buckner (San Rafael, CA).

During the second set, La Verne turned up its offense, hitting a match-high .314 as a team. After breaking an early 2-2 tie, the Leopards pulled away and never looked back en route to the victory.

With momentum on its side, La Verne captured a 9-3 advantage and seemed to be in control of the third set. However, the Bulldogs chipped away at their deficit as senior libero Chelsea Arcaris (Vista, CA) provided consecutive aces to make it cut the ULV lead to four. Then the Maroon and Gray rattled off five points with senior middle blocker Megan Phillips (Vista, CA) at the service line, tying the score at 17. During this stretch, Buckner and McCord put the ball away while the Leopards struggled with errors. The teams traded points again and then Cornick headed back to the service line, where she provided two more aces to contribute to the Bulldogs' 7-0 run that finished out the set. Sophomore right side hitter Dominique Atherley (Bainbridge Island, WA) crushed two of her seven kills on the night during this span of points.

The fourth set saw much of the same with each team gaining a slight lead only to watch the other claw its way back. With 12 tie scores, this frame truly could have gone either way but the Bulldogs managed to break the final stalemate at 24 all when Hamilton crushed her last kill of the match and the Redlands defense forced La Verne into a hitting error on match point.

Cornick dished out 44 assists for the Bulldogs while supplying eight digs. Phillips and Buckner tied for the team lead with 12 kills apiece. McCord posted eight kills on 20 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage as Atherley also impressed with her .429 showing on seven kills. Arcaris came up with a match-high 27 digs.

La Verne gained 17 kills each from sophomore middle blocker Catie Logan (Beaverton, OR) and Toomay-Taylor, while senior outside hitter Anna Calmer (La Habra, CA) knocked down 13. Kraiss added seven kills, 43 assists, and a team-leading 16 digs.

Redlands (16-8, 4-5 SCIAC) currently sits in fifth place, just behind Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, in the conference standings. The Bulldogs head to La Verne on Friday to face the Leopards at 2 p.m., before making the trek to Pasadena for a match against Caltech at 7:30 p.m.