LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (3-3) got a bounce back win against Saint Vincent College on Saturday morning as they swept the Bearcats. Then in the final game of the Leopard Invitational hosted at the University of La Verne, the Bulldogs came back to beat Edgewood College 3-1 after dropping the opening set.
Match 1 (Saint Vincent; W, 3-0)
Redlands opened the match with a 7-1 run that started with a Kaegan Wherry (Englewood, CO) kill off a Makenna Van Hofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) assist. Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) also added two aces during the stretch.
The Bulldogs would lead the remainder of the first set as they went up 1-0 after a 25-11 lopsided win.
In the second set it was tied at four before Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO) found Wherry for a kill that started a 7-3 run. Wherry had the second point of the surge coming on an ace followed by both Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) and Elizabeth Moyer (Surprise, AZ) who each added kills.
The Bearcats came all the way back to go in front 13-11, but a 14-2 run to end the set put the Maroon and Grey up 2-0. Kate Putzier (Overland Park, KS) had four kills, Wherry and Ball had two, and Isabella Garey (Alexandria, VA) with another.
Another Wherry kill when it was 1-1 in the third put Redlands up and they never looked back as they completed the sweep. Emma Murphy (South Jordan, UT) led all players with five kills and Makena Ruegsegger (Kihei, HI) picked up a pair herself.
After struggling with 47 errors Friday night, the Bulldogs only committed 16 in the match.
Match 2 (Edgewood; W, 3-1)
After a tough opening 25-19 first set loss to Edgewood, the Bulldogs put themselves in a hole in the second set, 5-1.
Things started to turn after two Eagle hitting errors and a kill by Ball. Trailing by one, 7-6, Brooks sparked the U of R with a kill during what would turn into a 7-0 run. During the push Murphy had a pair of kills and Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, NV) had an ace.
After a quick Eagle run that made it a two-point lead, the Bulldogs scored nine of the next thirteen points, which allowed them to eventually close out the set 25-20.
Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) scored the first point of the third set as UR led by six, 7-1. Redlands led throughout and extended their lead following another 7-1 run that gave them the set 25-18 after Edgewood pulled within one, 18-17.
Both sides went back-and-forth in the fourth frame as the two sides were within one, 13-12. Over the final 20 points the Bulldogs held a 12-8 advantage to finish off the match.
It was a balanced offensive attack with four players with double-digit kills: Wherry (14), Brooks (13), Moyer (11), and Murphy (10). Those are new career-highs for Brooks and Moyer.
Waterman and Van Hofwegen each had 23 assists. For Van Hofwegen it's a new career-high.
After a road exhibition match next week on the road against Westcliff University on September 12, the Bulldogs host West Coast Baptist for their home opener on Thursday, September 19 at 6:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym.
