WHITTIER, Calif. – In Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action Tuesday evening the University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (4-9, 1-7 SCIAC) lost in four sets at Whittier College 25-27, 25-12, 25-19, 25-21 as they were unable to carry over their momentum from a quick start.
Laural Pittman (Los Angeles, CA) opened the scoring with a service ace and was followed by
Kaegen Wherry (Englewood, CO) getting set up by
Maddy Schonauer (Bakersfield, CA) for a quick 2-0 lead. Wherry then made it 3-1 with a second kill off another Schonauer set.
The set was then tied on six different occasions after that until the Poets went on a 13-8 run to get within three points, 22-17. The Bulldogs, however, finished on a run of their own as they won 10 of the final 13 points. The run started with an assisted block from Wherry and
Esha Ball (Fresno, CA).
Kiki Stradford (Mission Viejo, CA) and Wherry finished with two kills apiece while
Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV) and
Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO) each served aces to give Redlands the 1-0 lead.
It was a tough start to the second set as Whittier won five of the first six points with the lone Redlands' point coming on another Wherry kill. In the frame the smallest deficit the Bulldogs faced the rest of the way was three, 5-2, after a service error by the Poets as the Bulldogs dropped the set 25-12.
Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) and Ball each had kills along with a Poet hitting error as the Bulldogs held a 3-1 lead to begin the third set. Despite the great start Whittier made another run as they led by seven, 16-9, but Redlands won five of the next six points as they drew within three, 17-14. During the run Brooks,
Isabella Garey (Alexandria, VA), and Ball each had kills.
The Poets responded to the Bulldogs' run as they ended the set on an 8-5 streak to win the set 25-19, putting them on top 2-1.
Down a set the Bulldogs allowed the Poets to jump out to a 5-2 lead to begin the fourth, but they responded to take a 7-5 lead as Makaiwi and Wherry each had kills.
With the set tied at 11 Redlands started to pull away as they won five-straight and led 16-11. Ball had a kill off a Waterman assist and UR took advantage of four consecutive Whittier errors to take a five-point lead.
The Poets would come back to tie the set at 18 and after another tie at 19, Whittier finished off the set and match with a 6-2 run.
Wherry had a double-double with a game-high 12 kills and 13 digs as she recorded 38.7 percent of the Bulldogs' kills. Waterman had nine assists and six digs, while Schonauer had a team-high and a career-high 15 assists.
The Bulldogs will play a non-conference game at West Coast Baptist College on Thursday, October 12 beginning at 6:00 p.m. before returning to SCIAC action next Tuesday, October 17 at Occidental College.
