REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (9-6, 3-4 SCIAC) got swept on the road at No. 1 University of La Verne (ULV) Friday evening despite holding early-set leads.
Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) served an ace and then set up Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR) and Lily Houston (Reno, NV) for a pair of kills for a quick 3-0 UR lead in the opening set.
The lead grew to as many as six, 11-5, after an Emily Kitchin (Portland, OR) kill off a Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) assist. Following three Bulldog errors and two Leopard kills the lead was cut down to one, 11-10.
Kitchin picked up a pair of kills to halt the ULV run before they eventually tied the set at 14-14.
After conceding nine of the previous 12 points the Bulldogs took advantage of a pair of Leopard errors before Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) recorded a kill followed by 'Ale'amaikalani Paiva (Honolulu, HI) with an ace to re-establish the Bulldogs four-point lead, 18-14.
Despite the great start and middle of the first set, ULV ended the first set on an 11-3 run as they took the opening period, 25-21.
Once again in the second Redlands won the first five points and found themselves up 7-3. From that point on, however, ULV went on a 9-3 run and were up six, 16-10.
A service error from the Leopards and another Vanhofwegen ace cut the deficit to four. A few points later Kitchin started a 5-1 run that included a pair of kills from Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA) helping UR pull within two, 20-18.
Much like the end of the first set, the Leopards closed out strong, winning five of six and taking the set, 25-19.
There were ties early to begin the third set before ULV went on top, 3-2. That lead would be maintained the rest of the way as the Leos finished off the sweep.
Kitchin led the Bulldogs with nine kills, but it was Houston with five kills and a .231 hitting percentage and Ball with a .308 percentage that helped keep the Bulldogs in the match. Vanhofwegen had 14 assists and two aces.
Redlands hosts Occidental College on Tuesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym after their bye Saturday.
