THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's volleyball team (2-7) lost their Cal Lu Fornia Invitational opener to Hardin-Simmons University (HSU), 3-1, before ending their night with a 3-1 lost to the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).
Match 1 (Hardin-Simmons University; L, 3-1)
The Bulldogs opened things up against the Cowgirls with an early rally from an 8-5 deficit to claim a 12-8 lead thanks to two kills by Jaycee Hullar (Lake Elsinore, CA) and Brooke Patsch (Thousand Oaks, CA) and another two from Krystal Rose Huff (Mill Valley, CA) and Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR).
They maintained their four-point advantage with a Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA) kill off an Olivia Stanley (Lake Elsinore, CA) assist at 15-11, but the Cowgirls would come back to take go in front 17-15.
Kautai then had a kill, off a set by Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA), and a pair of errors by HSU helped the Bulldogs even the set at 18-18. Then, after two straight by the Cowgirl's, Hullar had another kill followed by aces with Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) to push the Bulldogs to within four points of the opening set, 21-20.
HSU, however, would have the final run, scoring five of the final six points as they took the set, 25-22.
In a flip of the early script from the first, Redlands found themselves ahead the entire period and were ahead by as many as 12 points in the second as they sealed the dominant set win, 25-13, with a Hullar kill.
Following the dominant second, the Bulldogs were unable to maintain their momentum in the third as they fell behind by five, 7-2.
The five-point deficit grew to as large as six, 19-13, before Hajnal found Huff for the first of a 4-0 run that cut the lead to two, 19-17.
Over the final six points, though, HSU would score five of them just like in the first as they took a 2-1 set lead.
In the fourth frame Vanhofwegen setup Hullar for 7-6 U of R lead but that would be the only time the Bulldogs found themselves in front as the Cowgirls ended the set and match on a 19-11 run.
Hullar had a career-high 14 kills along with a .344 hitting percentage. Huff and Patsch also were highly efficient with .320 and .444 hitting percentages along with a combined 15 kills.
Match 2 (UC Santa Cruz; L, 3-1)
In their final match of the invite, the Bulldogs held a 6-3 lead early thanks to a Tiana Mariner (Lehi, UT) ace and four Banana Slug errors.
UCSC then cleaned up their play, turning it into a 6-1 run that gave them their first lead, 9-7. Redlands, however, also got their offense going with a pair of Hullar and Wagstaff kills during an 8-3 run that reclaimed the lead for the Maroon and Grey, 15-12.
In what turned into a set of runs, it was the Banana Slugs' 9-1 stretch, which put them ahead by five, 21-16. Despite a late Bulldog push, scoring three of four points after trailing by six, UCSC would take the set, 25-20.
In the most contested set of the night, the second, there were 12 ties, which included nine over the final 18 points, as the Bulldogs saved three set points thanks to a Mariner kill to make it 24-24, a UCSC service error to tie the set at 27-27, and a Kaitlyn DeLong (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) kill to tie it at 28-28. DeLong then had a second-straight kill with Vanhofwegen recording an ace to secure the set, 30-28.
The competitive second set leaked over the third as the two sides were within two points of each other through point 32. The difference came when the Banana Slugs won four of five points to go up by four, 19-15, which helped them take the frame 25-20.
In a must-win fourth set the Bulldogs were on top 5-4 with DeLong and Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV) both recording kills and Mariner adding an ace. UCSC, though, won seven of the next eight points and were on top by five, 11-6.
That lead would be enough to carry the Banana Slugs through the set despite Redlands closing to within one, 16-15, on a Kautai and Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) block, and a late 5-1 Bulldog run that came up short.
After nine non-conference matches, the Bulldogs begin their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) schedule next Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m. against the California Institute of Technology inside Currier Gym.
