The University of Redlands women's water polo team competed in the Lancer Invitational at Cal Baptist University earlier today and captured a hard-fought win over Azusa Pacific University before falling to the host school for a 1-1 showing.
Against APU, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and held on for the 8-5 victory. Redlands secured two goals while holding the Cougars scoreless in the opening period. Both teams stepped up their offense in the second stanza with the Maroon and Gray earning a slight edge with four scores, compared to APU's hat trick. Following a dead-even showing in final two periods, Redlands garnered its third victory of the season.
Junior center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR), junior driver Dianna Melancon (Riverside, CA) and sophomore center-defender Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) each contributed two goals, while junior driver Jamie Paul (Sandy, OR) and junior driver Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) added one apiece.
Freshman goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) and senior goalkeeper Tiana Singley (Benicia, CA) split time in the cage, recording four and six saves, respectively.
Redlands returned to the pool for its second match of the day, taking on the Lancers of Cal Baptist. The two teams sat in a 2-2 tie after two frames but CBU responded with a 5-1 run in the third period. Registering just one more goal in the game, Redlands came up short in the 4-9 loss.
Nippert led the offense with two goals, while Stein and Melancon each found the back of the net once.
Patrolling the goal for Redlands, Lupfer made six stops, while Singley added two.
The Bulldogs (3-1) look forward to hosting the Redlands Mini-Tournament No. 2 on Feb. 26 with a 9 a.m. showdown against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, followed by an 11 a.m. rematch with Azusa Pacific University.
