The University of Redlands women's water polo team prevailed in
a defensive battle against the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Colleges Saturday evening in Southern California Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action at Axelrod Pool in Claremont,
winning by a count of 6-5.
Both netminders and defenses stole the limelight, as both sides
made important stops down the stretch. Redlands killed off two
6-v-5 opportunities that were in favor of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in
the fourth quarter.
Sophomore center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR) paced the Bulldog
attack with a troika of goals, while sophomore drivers Joy Corona
(Lake Bluff, IL) and Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) and freshman
driver Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) added one score each.
Senior goalkeeper Whitney Schieler (Porterville, CA) had a
virtuoso performance in the cage for Redlands, stopping 13 Athena
shots.
The victory puts the Maroon and Gray right in the thick of the
race for a high seed at the 2010 SCIAC Championship Tournament,
held from April 30 through May 2 on the campus of Pomona College.
Redlands now sits in a tie for fourth with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
and is just one game back of a three-way tie for first. Each SCIAC
team now has two conference games left to play.
Redlands (12-12, 3-2 SCIAC) next travels to Pasadena on
Wednesday (April 21) to face Caltech at 7 p.m.
