The University of Redlands volleyball team halted its recent skid with a 3-0 sweep over the visiting Poets of Whittier College in Saturday afternoon's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match in Currier Gym. The Bulldogs jumped out early and never relinquished the lead, earning the victory by scores of 25-20, 25-19, 25-15.

In the opening set, the Redlands offense looked to the strong play of its middle blockers as senior Megan Phillips (Vista, CA) and junior Emily Capozzoli (Poway, CA) accounted for nine of the team's 11 kills. Despite a late push by the Poets, the Bulldogs remained ahead through the final whistle.

With a slight line-up change, the Maroon and Gray took advantage of numerous Poet miscues while Capozzoli and Phillips, along with the late addition of senior outside hitter Jackie Hamilton (Loma Linda, CA), controlled the Redlands offense. The Bulldogs upped their hitting percentage to .222 on 13 kills during this set.

A back-and-forth battle ensued during the third frame, with the score knotted at 10 apiece. Redlands broke away to garner a six-point advantage at 20-14 as Whittier struggled from the front line. After the teams exchanged rallies, Hamilton rattled off four consecutive points from the service line to seal the victory.

Offensively, the Bulldogs spread the wealth with Phillips leading the charge on a .423 clip off of 13 kills. Capozzoli finished with nine put-aways, while Hamilton recorded six kills in limited action. Freshman setter Alisha Cornick (Hollister, CA) distributed 32 assists as freshman libero Gabriela Levesque (Santa Monica, CA) led the defense with 16 digs.

Whittier gained a team-high seven kills from freshman outside hitter Lindsey Kish (Costa Mesa, CA), who also led the Poets with 20 digs.

Redlands (12-4, 2-3 SCIAC) travels to Cal Lutheran University on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. SCIAC match against the Regals.