The University of Redlands women's water polo team hosted the Redlands Mini-Tourney No. 2 on Saturday, taking on NAIA opponent Azusa Pacific University and familiar foe Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in non-conference bouts. The Bulldogs came away victorious by tight margins in both contests, defeating the Cougars of APU by a 12-11 decision and succeeding in overtime against CMS, 12-10.
Against Azusa Pacific, junior center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR) led the Bulldog offense with four netters, while sophomore driver Moana Tuipulotu (Lahaina, HI) provided a hat trick. Junior center Joy Corona (Lake Bluff, IL) and sophomore center-defender Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) each scored twice as junior driver Dianna Melancon (Riverside, CA) provided one goal in the exciting victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) and senior goalkeeper Tiana Singley (Benicia, CA) shared time in the cage, recording four saves apiece.
Redlands muscled out an overtime victory against the Athenas with Tuipulotu leading the charge with three goals. The Bulldogs gained two scores apiece from Nippert, senior driver Chandler Weeks (Palm Desert, CA), sophomore center-defender Mandy Nussbaum (Bellevue, WA), and Stein. In addition, junior driver Jamie Paul (Sandy, OR) fired one past the CMS goalkeeper.
Lupfer and Singley again shared the responsibilities as net-minder, with Lupfer providing eight stops and Singley adding three.
In other tournament action, Azusa Pacific edged out Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a 14-12 duel.
Redlands (5-1) looks forward to competing at the Claremont Convergence Tournament on March 11-12, with games taking place at the Pomona College and Claremont-McKenna College pools.
