REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (8-8, 4-5 SCIAC) played down two starters Tuesday night as they lost in straight sets to Whittier College inside Currier Gym.
Despite playing shorthanded the Bulldogs found themselves tied early in the first set thanks to kills from Isabella Garey (Alexandria, VA), Kaegan Wherry (Englewood, CO), and Emma Murphy (South Jordan, UT) with Makenna Van Hofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) assisting on all three attacks.
Trailing by six, 10-4, Head Coach Savannah Cox called a timeout that would spark the Bulldogs as they won four of the next five points pulling them within three, 11-8.
The run was short lived, though, as the Poets finished off the set with a 13-1 run taking the opening set 25-10.
Another competitive start to the second set was led by Murphy and Elizabeth Moyer (Surprise, AZ) who combined for three kills with Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO) collecting the three assists for an early 3-2 U of R advantage.
An Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) kill made it a 9-7 deficit before Whittier again closed the set off strong, this time finishing off the period by winning 16 of the next 21 points to go ahead 2-0.
With their backs against the wall the Bulldogs did not fold and put together their best set of the evening in the third as they had the Poets deadlocked at 12-12 forcing a timeout from the Purple & Gold.
Out of the break it was the Bulldogs who won two of three and held their largest lead of the match at 14-13.
Whittier would respond with a 6-2 run as they looked like they would take control of the set for the third time.
That is not what happened, however, as Van Hofwegen found Wherry for a kill, Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV) added an ace, and Waterman set up Makena Ruegsegger (Kihei, HI) and Murphy for a 21-20 UR lead.
After the previous timeout did not change momentum for Whittier, the Poets came out of their second and final timeout winning the last five points of the match to grab the road sweep.
Waterman and Van Hofwegen had 13 and 11 assists each and Makaiwi added 11 digs.
As a team the Bulldogs struggled to get their offense going as they hit .085 with their strongest set coming in the third when they hit .109. The Poets hit .379 overall.
Redlands now prepares to host Chapman University this coming Friday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym. The Bulldogs beat the Panthers in five sets earlier this month in Orange County.
