SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Volleyball team (2-0) jump started their third year of the Savannah Cox era in a big way Friday with a 3-1 win over Lewis & Clark College followed by an upset 3-2 win over host RV University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
Game 1 (Redlands 3 – Lewis & Clark 1)
The Bulldogs got off to a 9-1 start to begin the first set as Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR) had two kills coupled with Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA) adding three aces.
After an 8-3 run by the Pioneers, the lead was cut down to three, 12-9. Wagstaff then came up big again assisting Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) followed by 'Ale'amaikalani Paiva (Honolulu, HI) finding Emily Kitchin (Portland, OR) for a 14-9 U of R advantage.
The Pioneers did not go away, though. They battled back to tie the set at 17-17. Redlands, however, responded scoring the final eight points to take the season opening set, 25-17. During the run Vanhofwegen added four assists and Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) finished off a kill in the middle.
In the second it was a slow start for the Bulldogs, falling behind 5-2 before an Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) block sparked a 5-0 Maroon and Grey run, which included kills from Lily Houston (Reno, NV) and Emma Murphy (South Jordan, UT).
The lead would then grow to seven, 16-9, after a pair of Lewis & Clark attacking errors. The lead would be short lived though as the Pioneers went on an 11-3 run to go in front 20-19.
Much like the first set Redlands bounced back scoring seven of the next 11 points, while saving a set point with a Murphy kill before ending things on a Lewis & Clark attacking error.
The Bulldogs led 2-0 to begin the third set but found themselves behind the entire way until a late 4-0 surge put them on top 20-18 lead. During that stretch Wagstaff had a kill and Lilly Klinedinst (Lompoc, CA) provided a service ace.
Despite the surge and two great set finishes earlier in the match, it was the Pioneers who would close things out, winning the final five points to force a fourth set.
In the fourth Wagstaff had two early kills and Kautai added two aces to make it 4-0 Redlands early on.
After conceding an 8-3 run, the Bulldogs trailed by one 8-7. Looking at a potential fifth set Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) assisted Murphy that sparked an 18-7 Bulldog run that carried them to a 25-15 fourth set win. It is the third straight season the Bulldogs have opened with a win, all under Coach Cox, after not registering a season-opening win since 2018.
Wagstaff led the way with 12 kills. Vanhofwegen had 20 assists, Hajnal with 18, and Kautai and Paiva added 15 and 13 digs, respectively.
Game 2 (Redlands 3 – RV UC Santa Cruz 2)
The Bulldogs ended day one with a back-and-forth upset win over RV UCSC.
Redlands jumped out in front quickly 7-3 thanks to a pair of Murphy kills and two assists from Hajnal and Vanhofwegen.
Trailing by two, 15-13, Kautai was set up by Vanhofwegen in what was the first point during an 8-1 stretch that put the U of R up five, 21-16.
The Banana Slugs responded with a 7-2 run that tied it at 23-23, but Houston and Wagstaff had other plans finishing off the first set with back to back kills, giving UR the 25-23 win.
Vanhofwegen had an ace to begin the second set, but that was the lone lead in the second frame as the Bulldogs fell, 25-19.
In the third Redlands found themselves down 4-1 early before stringing together 24 of the next 35 points. The big run came when the two sides were separated by three, 17-14, and a service error by UCSC started an 8-2 U of R run that ended the set, capped off with a kill and service ace from Kautai pushing the Bulldogs in front 2-1.
In the fourth seeking to end the match, Redlands trailed on four different occasions with the last coming at 22-18. Murphy, Kitchin, and Wagstaff helped push the Bulldogs into the lead following five-straight, giving them a match point at 24-23. But they were unable to take advantage as the Banana Slugs won the final three points to even the match at two sets apiece.
In the quick first to 15 fifth set the Bulldogs trailed by four, 9-5, but put together another comeback giving them a comfortable 15-10 win thanks to three aces and a kill by Kautai and another two kills from Murphy.
Kautai and Murphy finished with 14 and 10 kills, respectively. They were efficient doing so too, hitting .262 and .318 with only six total errors between them. Hajnal and Vanhofwegen combined for 40 assists.
Redlands will look to make it a perfect 3-0 start in Santa Cruz tomorrow morning, Saturday, August 30 when the Bulldogs play Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Occidental College in a non-conference match-up.
