REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Volleyball team (9-5, 3-3 SCIAC) battled their way past the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Tuesday evening inside Currier Gym in a 3-1 (25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18) Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match victory.

It was all Bulldogs in the first half of the first set leading 8-1 and 18-8. Paige Sugg (Federal Way, WA) had two kills and Lily Houston (Reno, NV) another four. Emily Kitchin (Portland, OR) also served three-straight aces too.

Kills from Ainsley Dyerly (Redlands, CA) and Houston off Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) assists closed out the set, 25-14.

The Beavers won four of the first six points in the second before Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) assisted Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR) to start a 4-1 Bulldog run.

Redlands would find themselves down four, 20-16, before a string of four-straight points went to the Bulldogs thanks to a Houston kill and three Beaver attacking errors.

They would take that momentum and win the final three points to go ahead 2-0.

Vanhofwegen dumped a ball over the net to tie the third set at four, but a 5-0 Beaver run gave them a 9-4 lead. They maintained that advantage until the Bulldogs tied the game at 23-23 on a Kitchin kill that capped off a 13-8 run.

The Beavers, however, took the set after a service error and an attacking error fromt he U of R as the two sides moved onto the fourth set.

A 7-1 run to begin the fourth allowed the Bulldogs to lead from start to finish and end the match in four, 3-1.

Houston had a game-high 14 kills on only 24 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Vanhofwegen and Hajnal combined for 47 of the Bulldogs' 50 assists.

Redlands now prepares for a road match this Friday, October 10 at 7:00 p.m. at No. 1 ranked University of La Verne who holds 82 of 86 first place votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top-25 poll.