The University of Redlands women's water polo team defeated the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Saturday's semi-final round of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament. The Bulldogs edged out CMS for the third time in 2011, with today's win coming by a score of 10-9.
Redlands faced an early deficit after giving up two goals in a 45-second span during the sixth minute of competition.
However, the Bulldogs responded with a nice 2-0 run of their own before CMS notched another goal at the end of the first period.
Both squads posted three netters in the second stanza, leading to a 6-5 advantage for the Athenas.
Redlands made the necessary adjustments over the final two frames and outscored CMS by a 5-3 margin en route to the tight victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) provided an admirable performance in the cage, collecting nine saves in the winning effort.
Junior center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR) came up clutch for the Maroon and Gray, leading the offense with four goals.
Fellow junior center Joy Corona (Lake Bluff, IL) added another offensive spark by finding the back of the net on two occasions.
Senior driver Chandler Weeks (Palm Desert, CA), junior driver Dianna Melancon (Riverside, CA), sophomore center Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) and sophomore driver Moana Tuipulotu (Lahaina, HI) each contributed one score for the Bulldogs.
With the victory, Redlands now advances on to the championship final against the top-seeded Occidental College Tigers, who garnered a 7-5 decision against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges earlier today. The title bout takes place on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. at Los Flores Park.
