The University of Redlands volleyball team battled it out against No. 25 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges during Senior Night in Currier Gym but came up short of the upset in four sets, 13-25, 14-25, 25-22, 19-25. Despite the loss, the Bulldogs left it all on the court, raising the level of their play throughout the match to put together an exciting third-set victory in front of a raucous home crowd on Saturday night.
During the exciting triumph in the third stanza, Redlands recorded its best hitting percentage of the night at .250, while holding the Athenas to their worst at .089.
Never trailing in this frame, the Bulldogs looked to freshman right-side hitter Cassy Lematta (West Linn, OR) to knock down a kill to break a five-all tie.
Although the Athenas kept it close, Redlands eventually built a 14-10 lead with back-to-back kills by senior outside hitter Morgan Buckner (San Rafael, CA) before she joined forces with freshman middle blocker Allison Jensen (Redlands, CA) for a well-timed block.
The teams continued to trade punches with the Maroon and Gray maintaining its lead with a prolific attack and relentless defense.
At 23-22, Jensen earned another kill after an Athena blocker went into the net.
Set-point with sophomore libero Karly Burningham (Sonoma, CA) at the service line, Redlands gained a huge block by sophomore middle blocker Marisa Gile (Yucaipa, CA) and Lematta for the 25-22 win.
Redlands finished the night with eight total blocks, compared to CMS' six. Jensen led the Bulldogs with six block assists, while Buckner and Lematta each added three.
Defensively, the Bulldogs gained a team-high 17 digs from Burningham, while Buckner and senior libero Brittney Overgaag (Palm Desert, CA) provided 14 apiece.
Overall, Gile led the Redlands attack with 12 kills at a .344 clip, while Buckner knocked down 11 kills. Jensen added eight kills with a hitting percentage of .333. Senior setter Alisha Cornick (Hollister, CA) dished out 37 assists in her final match in the Maroon and Gray.
CMS was led by Nicole Kerkhoff and Regina Mullen with 17 kills each. Megan Coleman racked up 29 digs for the Athenas.
Prior to the competition, the Bulldogs recognized their three seniors, who represent three different areas of expertise on the court. Each brought a unique set of characteristics that emulates dedication, unity, and fun to the program over the past four years.
Buckner finished her career as the Bulldogs' second player to ever eclipse the 1,000-kill mark, tallying 1,044 kills as the team's primary outside hitter for most of the last four seasons. She also amassed 979 digs, 118 total blocks, and 86 service aces.
Overgaag served as a tenacious defensive player with a deceptive serve. She registered 855 digs, which place her seventh all-time, to go along with 70 service aces.
Finally, Cornick put the wrap on her career with 2,068 assists to rank third all-time at Redlands. She also contributed 104 kills, 563 digs, 44 aces, and 98 total blocks.
The Bulldogs completed the 2013 season with a 6-22 overall record and a 3-13 SCIAC mark to finish in eighth place in the standings.
