The University of Redlands volleyball team opened Friday's twin bill with a non-conference bout against UC Santa Cruz. After the Banana Slugs jumped out to a two-set lead with scores of 25-20 and 25-13, the Bulldogs rallied to take the third stanza in a tight battle, 26-24. However, the fourth frame went to UC Santa Cruz, 25-21, halting the Maroon and Gray's comeback effort.
Redlands held an early advantage for much of the third set, before UC Santa Cruz evened the count at 16 apiece. A back-and-forth affair ensued until the Banana Slugs put together consecutive points to go up by a score of 22-20.
An effective timeout by the Bulldogs resulted in a kill by sophomore middle blocker Marisa Gile (Yucaipa, CA).
After UCSC answered with a put-away of its own, Redlands looked to an impressive wall of a block by the freshman duo of setter Ellie McLeod (Redlands, CA) and middle blocker Allison Jensen (Redlands, CA) to make it a one-point deficit.
Following a Banana Slug attacking error, senior outside hitter Morgan Buckner (San Rafael, CA) found hardwood for the Bulldogs' first set-point of the match.
However, an untimely service error knotted the score once again. Nonetheless, UC Santa Cruz coughed up its own miscue, which gave set-point back to the Maroon and Gray.
Finally, a nice kill by Jensen from senior setter Alisha Cornick (Hollister, CA) ended the stanza with the Bulldogs on top by a score of 26-24. Redlands finished the set with its best hitting percentage of the match at .361.
Unfortunately, the Maroon and Gray's momentum fell just short in the fourth set, as the Banana Slugs broke a 21-all tie for the win.
Buckner led the Redlands offense with 17 kills, while Jensen and sophomore outside hitter Ashton Martin (Redlands, CA) provided 10 apiece. Jensen racked up a solid hitting percentage of .381 in the process.
Senior libero Brittney Overgaag (Palm Desert, CA) supplied 21 digs and McLeod dished out 34 assists for the Maroon and Gary. Finally, Gile was all over the net on defense, recording five block assists.
Redlands (5-12) returns to action later tonight with a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown with Chapman University at 7:30 p.m.
