REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's volleyball team (2-5) were dominant in a four set win over Westcliff University in their first match of the season inside Currier Gym taking it 25-12, 19-25, 25-18, 25-19.
The Bulldogs held a 16-3 lead in the opening set with Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA) posting four kills and Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) adding seven assists.
Westcliff cut the lead to under 10 a couple of times but a 4-0 Bulldog run, with two more kills by Kautai, ended the first, 25-12.
In the second set it was back and forth early before the Warriors went on to win five of the next six points for an 8-4 lead. Another Warrior error and kills by Emily Kitchin (Portland, OR), Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR), and Jaycee Hullar (Lake Elsinore, CA) tied the set at nine.
The very next point, though, was a Bulldog service error, which returned the lead back to the Warriors, a lead they never relinquished as they evened the match.
In the important swing third set, it was Westcliff with another early lead, this time at 7-6. A Krystal Rose Huff (Mill Valley, CA) tally off a Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) assist would spark a 4-0 run that put Redlands in front, 10-7. From then on, the Bulldogs won 15 of the next 26 points taking the set, 25-18.
Another tie at three all in the fourth turned into an 8-5 lead for the U of R thanks to kills by Kautai, Esha Ball (Fresno, CA), and Hullar.
The match-ending run came at 8-7 when Hajnal found Hullar for a kill in the first of 10 unanswered points for the Maroon and Grey. During the run Vanhofwegen had two aces, Callie Cahill (Bakersfield, CA) and Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) combined on a block, and Olivia Stanley (Lake Elsinore, CA) found Hullar for her fourth kill of the run as Redlands eventually won the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
Hullar had a career-high 14 kills with Kautai joining her with double-digit kills with 12. Vanhofwegen had 27 assists and 18 digs, both team-highs. Stanley was two assists shy of a double-double with eight assists and 13 digs. Brooks had three total blocks thanks to six assisted.
The Bulldogs return to competition at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational in Thousand Oaks this Friday, September 18 when they play Hardin-Simmons University at 4:00 p.m. and University of California, Santa Cruz at 7:00 p.m.
