LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (10-13, 5-10 SCIAC) took the opening two sets and had six match points in the third, but would need five to take down Occidental College on the road Friday night winning 25-22, 25-16, 24-26, 25-27, 15-7.
After the Tigers scored five of the first six points, Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) and Emma Murphy (South Jordan, UT) had kills off assists from Makenna Van Hofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) and Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO).
On a Lilly Klinedinst (Lompoc, CA) service ace the Bulldogs were able to deadlock the set at 12-12.
Following an Oxy kill that made it 20-19 Tigers, the Bulldogs finished off the set with six of the next nine points thanks to four Kaegan Wherry (Englewood, CO) kills.
Another quick start by the Tigers in the second set saw the Bulldogs trail until Waterman found Murphy for a kill on a blocking error to tie the period up at eight.
Elizabeth Moyer (Surprise, AZ) then found open court for two kills to make it a three-point U of R lead, 11-8. The largest lead of the set was at the end when the Maroon and Grey led by nine, 25-16.
In the third the match was in hand at 24-17 with Redlands holding six match points. Six would not be enough though as the Tigers would win nine-straight forcing a fourth, 26-24.
The fourth set was more of the same for the first half as the two sides went back-and-forth, but it was the back half where Occidental created space, going in front 23-18.
Redlands, however, responded with six unanswered points to take a 24-23 lead and earn themselves a seventh match point, but like the third set, they were unable to hold on as they dropped the set 27-25.
After making their life difficult in the previous two sets, the Bulldogs got a seven-point lead in the first to 15 fifth set and closed out the match with three-straight points off a Wherry kill, a Tiger error, and a Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV) service ace.
Wherry had a big night with 23 kills and 18 digs. Makaiwi had three aces, six assists, and 14 digs. Van Hofwegen and Waterman posted 25 and 17 assists, respectively. Esha Ball (Fresno, CA), Isabella Garey (Alexandria, VA), and Aminoff had six, four, and three blocks each as Redlands held a 10-3 block advantage.
The Bulldogs come home for their season finale and senior night on Saturday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. as they host the California Institute of Technology inside Currier Gym.
