The No. 18 University of Redlands women's tennis team capped off the 2015 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament on a high note by defeating the No. 23 University of La Verne Leopards in the third-place match.  While coming from behind, the Bulldogs successfully avenged an earlier-season loss to the Leopards with Saturday's exciting 5-4 win.

La Verne jumped out to an early lead by winning two doubles matches right out of the gate, but Redlands rallied at the No. 2 position to secure the crucial point.  Junior Lauren Villanueva (El Segundo, CA) and senior Julia Pollak (Holland, PA) eked out a tiebreak win, 7-4, to prevail in a tight 9-8 showing.

Trailing 1-2 in the overall scoring, the Maroon and Gary stepped up in singles to harness its first lead of the match.  Pollak rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 6, before junior Natalie Etchegaray (Placentia, CA) cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win at the top of the line-up.

But the Leopards knotted the score with a straight-set triumph at No. 2, forcing Redlands to answer once again.

Needing at least two of the final three matches to secure the win, the Bulldogs looked to junior Gabriela Vasquez (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) to come up with an important 6-0, 7-6(2) victory at No. 5.  Moments later, sophomore Emily Murnin (Salt Lake City, UT) officially sealed the deal for the Maroon and Gray by going the distance in an exciting 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 showing at No. 4.

With the match already decided, the Leopards tallied one more point with a three-set decision at No. 3.

While incorporating the dual-match results, Redlands (14-8, 7-4 SCIAC) finishes the conference season tied-for-third-place with La Verne and now awaits a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be announced on Monday, May 4.