REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (4-5, 1-3 SCIAC) snapped their three-match losing streak as they won their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match thanks to their third five-set win of the season as they beat Occidental College 25-27, 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11 inside Currier Gym on Tuesday evening.
In the opening seven points of the match the Bulldogs held a 4-3 lead after
Kaegen Wherry (Englewood, CO) had a pair of kills. The Tigers, however, won six of the next seven points taking a 9-5 lead.
The Bulldogs responded and tied the set at ten thanks to a 4-0 run that saw
Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) record a pair of kills and
Kiki Stradford (Mission Viejo, CA) and
Paige Sugg (Federal Way, WA) each adding another.
Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV) had two assists and
Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO) and
Ella Goettsche (Eastvale, CA) each had one.
The two teams were tied on eight different occasions with the last one coming at 25-25, but Occidental scored on a block and a kill taking the final three points after Redlands held set-point, 25-24.
In set two the Bulldogs bounced back immediately, winning the first four points thanks to kills from Aminoff,
Lilia Donaldson (Boulder, CO), and Goettsche.
The Tigers responded to the UR quick start as they tied the set at six eventually taking a 10-8 lead, before giving it right back to the Maroon and Grey who went on top by one, 17-16 following a Sugg and Donaldson combo block and a Sugg kill.
Occidental finished the second set by winning three-straight, this time it was the Bulldogs turn as they took a timeout tied at 23 before coming out and winning the final two points, the last of which was an Aminoff kill off a
Julia Hodges (Virgina Beach, VA) assist.
The first 20 points of the third set saw a combined nine ties and lead changes, but the two teams were still deadlocked at ten. That was until Redlands won six unanswered using four Tiger errors and kills from Donaldson and Wherry.
It would get a bit dicey toward the end as the lead was cut to two, 20-18, but five of the final eight points went the way of the Bulldogs as they took the 2-1 lead advantage. With the exception of five ties in the middle of the fourth set, the Tigers were in the lead from the very beginning as they led by as many as seven, 22-15.
The Bulldogs battled back to win six of seven and forced an Oxy timeout with the deficit sitting at only two, 23-21. Out of the timeout the Tigers won the first point, but the next two went to Redlands thanks to an Occidental error and a Wherry kill. But the rally would end as Occidental would finish off the set 25-23 despite the 8-2 Bulldog run.
Like most of the sets the deciding fifth would be heavily contested with neither team leading by more than one until
Isabella Garey (Alexandria, VA) had a kill followed by a Goettsche service ace that put the Bulldogs up for the final time, 9-7. Redlands would never relinquish the lead, even with the Tigers drawing within one, 12-11, as a Wherry and Garey would combine for three kills that ended the match 15-11.
Both Wherry and Aminoff finished with double figure kills with 19 and 14, both new career-highs. Wherry added another career-high with 28 digs. Goettsche and Waterman continued to be successful in running the offense with 26 and 23 assists each. Makaiwi's return to the defense has been immeasurable as she provided many good beginnings to possessions with her 25 digs, she also added a career-high 10 assists.
Redlands will return to action this Friday at 7:00 p.m. as they travel to No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and will look to snap their 22-match losing streak and win their first match against the Athenas since October 2010.
