REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (10-6, 4-4 SCIAC) swept Occidental College 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-20) on Tuesday evening inside Currier Gymnasium to move back to .500 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play after eight of their 16 matches. The Bulldogs have now made it two in a row against the Tigers on the season and have outscored them 6-0 in sets played.
The Bulldogs started the match with kills from Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ), Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR), Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA), and Emily Kitchin (Portland, OR) as they held a 6-1 lead, while forcing a Tiger timeout.
After 12 points the lead was six, 9-3, but Occidental would go on a 5-1 run to pull to within two, 10-8. Redlands, however, quickly halted the run with a 10-2 surge themselves that gave them a 10-point lead. During the stretch Kitchin had a service ace, while 'Ale'amaikalani Paiva (Honolulu, HI) added two in a row.
Carter Meyers (Tustin, CA) set Kitchin for the 25th and final point of a strong 25-16 opening set win for the Maroon and Grey.
Lily Houston (Reno, CA) and Kitchin combined for five kills in the opening 17 points of the second set as the Bulldogs held a dominant 13-4 advantage.
Occidental did pull to within four points, 20-16, after a 7-1 run, but Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) had two of the final five points to help put the Bulldogs in front 2-0.
Following big leads early in the first two sets, the Tigers had the third set tied at on four occasions early before an 8-1 run pushed Redlands in front by six, 11-5.
Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) had three assists with Lauren Culala (Seattle, WA) adding an ace and Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) finishing a point with a kill.
The match-ending point ended a 9-5 Tiger run that cut the lead to four, 24-20, as Whitney Farrell (Bend, OR) assisted Kaitlyn DeLong (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) for the 75th and final Bulldog point of the match.
Meyers had a career-high seven assists and Farrell had a season-high three assists. Kautai posted 13 kills on 27 attempts to go with 13 digs, while hitting .481, Houston hit .417 with six kills, Kitchen added another nine strikes and Paiva finished with 16 digs in the backrow with those two service aces.
The Bulldogs have a bye this Friday and Saturday before hosting Chapman University next Tuesday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym.
