PASADENA, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (7-14, 3-12 SCIAC) won their final Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) road game of the season Friday night as they beat the California Institute of Technology 3-1. This is the Bulldogs second road SCIAC win of the season, the first time with multiple road conference wins since 2019.
It was a very competitive start as the two sides were tied through the first 20 points, 10-10.
Kaegan Wherry (Englewood, CO),
Laural Pittman (Los Angeles, CA),
Kiki Stradford (Mission Viejo, CA),
Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA), and
Paige Sugg (Federal Way, WA) all had kills while
Maddy Schonauer (Bakersfield, CA) and
Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO) added assists.
Following the tie the Bulldogs ended the set on a 15-8 run as they took the opening set 25-18.
Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) had her first kill, while Stradford added a solo block and assisted on another with Aminoff.
In the second Redlands got off to a 4-1 start thanks to three kills from Wherry and assists from Pittman, Schonauer, and
Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV). Caltech, though, won eight of the next nine as they went ahead 9-5.
The Beaver lead would grow to nine, 17-8, before the Bulldogs won five-straight thanks to two service aces from Makaiwi as the deficit was four, 17-13. Redlands would get as close as four at 24-20, but Caltech would close it out 25-20.
The third set saw the Bulldogs get off to another fantastic start as they won eight of the first 11 points with Brooks adding a kill and Wherry again recording three of her own.
With the lead sitting at only two, 10-8, the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run to extend their lead to 10, 19-9. Four Wherry kills and the first kill for
Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) helped the Bulldogs stay in the driver's seat.
Redlands' lead was cut to three, 23-20, following an 11-4 Beaver run that saw the Bulldogs commit eight errors. The Beavers returned the favor with an error of their own, followed by a Wherry kill as the Bulldogs went up 2-1 with a 25-20 set win.
After an attacking error to begin the fourth, Redlands would lead from start to finish. It was a one-point set, 12-11, but Brooks recorded two kills and Makaiwi had a service ace to make it 18-11 Bulldogs. Following a pair of Beaver points, the Bulldogs ended the set and match on a 7-3 run that was capped off with a Waterman-assisted, Aminoff kill.
Wherry finished with 18 kills, one off her career-high of 19 at Occidental a couple of weeks ago. She added 14 digs and four block assists. Sugg and Aminoff each had eight kills. For Sugg it is her most since recording eight at home against Occidental at the end of September, and for Aminoff it is her most since that same Occidental game. Waterman had her fourth double-double of the season with 16 assists and 10 digs.
