WHITTIER, Calif. – In a game that was originally scheduled to be played inside Currier Gym, the University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (6-4, 2-1 SCIAC) was forced to travel instead Tuesday night to Whittier College due to smoke from the Line Fire competed in a competitive four-set match against the Poets falling 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start finding themselves down five, 16-11, after Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) recorded her fourth kill of the set. Up to that point only six of the 11 points came from kills as Emma Murphy (South Jordan, UT) had the other two.
Redlands would get within two, 17-15, following kills by Kaegan Wherry (Englewood, CO), Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO), and Esha Ball (Fresno, CA), but their comeback attempt would fall short as they lost 25-18.
The opening ten points of the second set saw three ties before the Poets took the lead 6-5, a lead they grew to as many as six. Makenna Van Hofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) then found Wherry for a kill that started a 17-7 run that helped the U of R tie the match up winning the set 25-21.
During the run Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) and Kaitlyn DeLong (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) had kills and the Bulldogs took advantage of nine Poet errors.
The third set followed the same pattern similar to the second with a tie at five before Whittier took a five-point lead, 11-6. Redlands would then win five of the next seven points to draw within three.
The Poets looked to have the set in hand with a 22-16 advantage, but the Bulldogs, however, did not go away quietly as they made it a one-point frame, 24-23. Whittier, though, took advantage of an error to win the set.
Four of the first five points of the fourth set were won off miscues as the Bulldogs led 3-2. After 10 Bulldogs errors the Poets were within five points of ending the match as they held a 20-13 lead.
Following a timeout from Head Coach Savannah Cox, Redlands came out and won seven of the next nine points forcing a Poet timeout as the period turned into a two-point margin.
Much like the Bulldogs, the Poets came out and won the first two points after the break, but a ball-handling error and an Aminoff kill made it 24-22 Poets. The set and match would end on the next point following a service error.
Wherry was the lone Bulldog in double figures with 12 kills and added 10 digs for a double-double. Van Hofwegen had 17 assists and seven digs. Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV) had a match-high 25 digs. Waterman missed a double-double by two digs as she had 16 assists and eight pick-ups.
Redlands will be in Orange County on Friday, October 4 as they take on Chapman University beginning at 7:00 p.m.
