REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands women's volleyball team (3-9, 1-1 SCIAC) fell in straight sets to California Lutheran University (CLU) Tuesday evening inside Currier Gym.
Like they have done most of the season, the Bulldogs got off to a quick start, winning six of the first nine points of the match thanks to kills by Jaycee Hullar (Lake Elsinore, CA), Makaila Brooks (Las Vegas, NV), Cecily Wagstaff (Portland, OR), and Lily Kautai (San Mateo, CA).
The lead was four as late as 10-6 after a Krystal Rose Huff (Mill Valley, CA) kill off a Makenna Vanhofwegen (Buckeye, AZ) assist and a pair of Regal errors. CLU, though, scored the next five points to take their first lead, 11-10.
Redlands battled back to tie it at 12-12 on a Brooks kill off a Tiana Mariner (Lehi, UT) assist, but CLU scored the next three and held that lead the remainder of the set going up 1-0.
A slow start in the second set cost the Bulldogs as they found themselves down by four, 5-1. That deficit grew to five, 10-5, before a 5-1 run got them to within one, 11-10. During the push Esha Ball (Fresno, CA) and Hullar had an assisted block with Kaitlyn DeLong (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) adding an ace and Huff finishing things off with a pair of connections.
Much like the middle of the first set, however, it was the Regals who pulled away, using a 13-7 run to take a seven-point lead they would hold onto despite a late 4-0 Bulldog run.
Needing a reverse sweep down 2-0, Brooke Patsch (Thousand Oaks, CA) had a solo block, and DeLong recorded a kill for a quick 2-0 lead for the U of R in the third. After that the set became tied on four different occasions.
CLU then won four consecutive points for the first lead by either side of more than two points. An attack error ended the run at 4-0, but the Regals extended the lead to 16-4 and grew it to as many as 12, 22-10.
Huff and Ball kept the Bulldogs alive briefly with an assisted block, but the Regals were too much in the end, taking the set 25-11 and the sweep.
Rose Huff had a breakout match finishing with a team high nine kills, hitting .238, while Hullar and Kautai combined for another 12. Mariner posted 18 digs in the back row and Vanhofwegen added 13 assists and eight digs.
Redlands will have three days off before returning to the court on Saturday, October 3 at 4:00 p.m. when they travel to face Occidental College for their first road Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match of the season.
