LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (15-11) played in their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Semifinal since 2009 Thursday evening at the University of La Verne (ULV) where they lost in straight sets, 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-17).
Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) got the Bulldogs on the board with a kill off a Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) stopping an early 4-0 run by ULV. Then trailing by four, 6-2, the Bulldogs took advantage of a service error, attacking error, and a kill from Lily Houston (Reno, NV) to pull within two, 7-5.
From that point forward, however, the Leopards won 18 of the next 24 points as the No. 1 seeded Leopards took the first set in dominant fashion, 25-11.
The Bulldogs did not allow that momentum to carry into the second set holding a four-point lead, 12-8. Those 12 points came off three kills from Emily Kitchin (Portland, OR) and Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA) and a kill off a Lauren Culala (Seattle, WA) assist by Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR).
They maintained their four-point advantage as late as 15-11 when Houston posted two kills and Kitchin had another during a quick 3-1 run. ULV, though, responded with a 6-1 stretch that gave them their first lead, 17-16, within 24 points when it was 5-4 Leopards.
Redlands would tie the set at 18-18 and then 20-20 before ULV got a set point, 24-21. A Houston kill and Leopard attacking error made it a one-point frame, 24-23, but La Verne would finish it off with one final kill for a 2-0 lead.
As they have done most of the year, the Bulldogs came out with a fresh outlook in the third which led them having another four-point lead, 6-2.
The Leopards responded with six straight before the Bulldogs won six of the next nine to reclaim the lead, 12-11. That lead, however, was the final advantage of the match for the Bulldogs as ULV went ahead 16-15 before winning nine of the final 11 points and completing the sweep they were unable to finish off last week in Redlands.
Houston hit .563 with only one error and 10 kills. Hajnal had 18 assists and Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) added 11. Kautai had seven kills and 19 digs.
Overall, this season Kautai finishes third in single-season program history with 52 service aces and fifth in kills with 321. 'Ale'amaikalani Paiva (Honolulu, HI) had 428 digs, eighth-most. Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) will head into her senior season 10th in program history with 155 career total blocks.
Redlands' season comes to a close with only two seniors departing and a roster that featured nine freshmen and another six sophomores. Their top four in kills were freshman, top two in assists are underclassmen, and top five in digs are underclassmen too. So the future looks bright for Bulldog Volleyball.
