The University of Redlands women's volleyball team squared off against the No. 8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Athenas on Tuesday night in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action in Currier Gym. The Bulldogs struggled to answer the Athenas' steady play and ultimately lost by scores of 13-25, 11-25, 17-25.
Redlands battled through the first few points to keep the score close, as freshman outside hitter Savannah Casey (Encinitas, CA), sophomore outside hitter Melanie Fyda (Chicago, IL), sophomore middle hitter Sofia Olsson (Cupertino, CA), and sophomore right-side hitter Megan Houston (Normandy Park, WA) each knocked down kills to make it 6-5.
After CMS took a slight lead, the Bulldogs bounced back to even the tally at nine apiece with sophomore middle hitter Sammi Tafoya (Granite Bay, CA) and Fyda finding hardwood.
However, the Athenas responded with a few significant scoring runs to earn the opening-set win at 25-13.
The second set saw the visiting team fire off six-straight points to take a lead it would not relinquish to gain the two-set advantage.
During the third stanza, CMS jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, which forced the Maroon and Gray to play catch-up. Amidst a few Athena errors, Redlands looked to the offensive prowess of Houston and a well-timed service ace by junior setter Jackie Andrade (Seattle, WA) to help the Bulldogs' comeback cause and make it 6-7.
Nonetheless, CMS quickly regrouped with efficient offense and a persistent defense to keep the home team at bay.
Offensively, Redlands was paced by Fyda, who connected on nine kills, while senior libero Abigail Hickman (Phoenix, AZ) supplied 15 digs.
The Bulldogs (6-11, 2-7 SCIAC) head to the No. 24. University of La Verne on Friday, October 13, for a 7 p.m. showdown against the Leopards.