The University of Redlands women's water polo team hosted a tri-match on a beautiful day at the Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday. The Bulldogs tamed the Occidental College Tigers by a score of 6-0 in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown to open the day but fell to Brown University (RI) in a non-conference match in a 2-11 decision.
Against the Tigers, Redlands jumped out to a 2-0 lead through the first period with sophomore attack player Breanna O'Dea (Rowland Heights, CA) and sophomore center Kolby Kahahawai (Kailua, HI) each finding the back of the net.
The Bulldogs continued to impress on the defensive end to hold Oxy scoreless, as sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Grosswendt (Newbury Park, CA) recorded six quality stops through the midway point of the game. Offensively, the Maroon and Gray took advantage of opportunities to extend its lead to 5-0 by the halftime intermission. Kahahawai scored twice, while sophomore utility player Rachel Nelson (San Juan Capistrano, CA) also fired one past the Tiger goalkeeper.
The defensive battle continued in the third and fourth quarters, with Redlands only scoring once but keeping Oxy off the board for the entire contest. O'Dea recorded her second goal of the game to make it 6-0 for the Bulldogs.
Sophomore goalkeeper Katelyn Jenkins (Bellevue, WA) capped off the Maroon and Gray's impressive shutout performance as the last line of defense. She notched five saves in two periods of work.
During the non-Redlands match, Brown dominated the Tigers in a 22-5 performance.
The Bulldogs jumped back into the pool for an evening contest against the Brown Bears. Unfortunately, the tables turned on the home team, which suffered a 2-11 loss. Junior attack player Alea Weber (Haiku, HI) and sophomore center Carmen Gardner (South San Francisco, CA) recorded Redlands' only goals.
Redlands (6-16, 1-1 SCIAC) hosts a doubleheader on Wed., March 29, when it faces Caltech in a 4 p.m. SCIAC contest before taking on Hartwick College (NY) in a non-conference match at 7 p.m.
