PASADENA, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's volleyball team (3-16, 1-9 SCIAC) lost in four sets at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Tuesday evening unable to overcome dropping the first two sets.
The Bulldogs got off to a slow start giving up the first seven points and finding themselves down eight, 16-8, late in the opening set.
Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) then had back-to-back assists as she found Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) and Krystal Rose Huff (Mill Valley, CA) before Tiana Mariner (Lehi, UT) set up Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA), followed by a Caltech attacking error, which cut the deficit to four, 16-12. Ultimately. four was the closest Redlands got down the stretch as they dropped the first set, 25-20.
Following three straight by the Beavers to begin the second, two errors by the Beavers and then an ace from Emily Kitchin and a kill by Kautai put the Bulldogs in front for the first time all match.
Caltech, though, scored the next seven points and were still up by seven, 22-15, late in the set. Anther Kautai kill, however, sparked an 8-1 U of R run that tied the set at 23-23. A service error and an attacking error by the Bulldogs ensued on the following two points as they went behind 2-0 in the match.
In the third set Redlands finally got out in front with the first two points, and after seeing Caltech win four of the next seven points, they scored five of the next eight points as they had their largest lead of the match at three, 10-7.
Caltech, much like they had the entire night, made life difficult, usually from a lead position, but this time they came back and would go on to tie the set five times before a 10-2 Bulldog run put the set away, 25-17, which kept Redlands alive in the match.
With momentum on their side for the first time, the Bulldogs were up 4-2 after a pair of Kautai kills and an ace by Mariner. The Beavers, though, came right back and nullified Redlands' work with a 6-0 stretch.
Following three in a row by the Maroon and Grey, the Beavers countered it with five of their own. Then trailing by five, 17-12, Kautai finished off a pair of kills and Redlands took advantage of two Caltech errors to pull within two, 18-16.
With the deficit back to five, 21-16, after another 5-0 run by the Beavers, Vanhofwegen found Jaycee Hullar (Lake Elsinore, CA), Mariner assisted Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR), and Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) served an ace to keep UR stay alive, 21-19.
That two-point deficit was cut to one three times including at 24-23 when Wagstaff saved match point with a kill. Ultimately, though, the Beavers would finish off the match with a kill.
Kautai had a career night with 25 kills, 11 digs, and five aces. Her 25 kills are the sixth-most in single-match program history and only two off the record held by four players. Wagstaff added 13 kills and 1.5 total blocks. Vanhofwegen and Hajnal each had 22 assists with 21 combined digs. Ball continued her dominant play inside with 5.5 total blocks.
Redlands gets Thursday off before their final non-conference match of the season this Saturday, October 24 at 2:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym when they host Azusa Pacific University.
