AZUSA, Calif. – In the first meeting as NCAA Division III schools, the University of Redlands women's volleyball team (3-8) lost in straight sets at Azusa Pacific University (APU) Saturday morning in what was a non-conference match with the Cougars who are not eligible for Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) or NCAA postseason competition this season.
The Bulldogs hit over .300 last time out on Thursday against Caltech and that hot hitting continued Saturday as they hit .342 in the opening set. Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR) had the opening kill off a Hannah Hajnal (El Cerrito, CA) assist before three-straight kills came from Jaycee Hullar (Lake Elsinore, CA) making it 4-0 Redlands.
Following a 3-1 APU run, Redlands got three free points thanks to errors by the Cougars, the third was forced by an assisted block by Krystal Rose Huff (Mill Valley, CA) and Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV), as the U of R lead reached five, 8-3.
Ahead by four, 11-6, after a kill by Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA) off a Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) assist, APU then went on a 10-4 run, taking a two-point lead, 17-15.
Redlands did not go away, though, tying the set at 19-19 and then at 20-20 thanks to a Wagstaff kill and an APU error. The Cougars, however, went on another run, this time winning five of the next six points, as they took the opening set, 25-21.
In the second set the two teams found themselves tied at five after a Kautai kill, and the U of R was up one, 8-7, but from that point forward APU scored 17 of the final 26 points to make it a 2-0 set lead.
Five of the first eight points of the third set went to the Bulldogs thanks to two Kautai kills, two Cougar errors, and a Wagstaff tally. A big 16-2 APU run, though, would kill any chance at a fourth set as they won the third and final set, 25-15.
The Bulldogs hit .342 in the opening set before posting a .167 and .024 mark in the final two, while the Cougars hit. 350, .441, and .276. Kautai finished with 12 kills, while hitting .393 to go with 11 digs, Hullar added 10 kills and Vanhofwegen and Hajnal combined for 31 assists and 10 digs.
Redlands returns to Currier Gym this coming Tuesday, September 29 when they host California Lutheran University (CLU) at 7:00 p.m.
