The University of Redlands women's volleyball team welcomed the Chapman University Panthers to Currier Gym for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match on Saturday afternoon. While struggling to answer the visitors' consistent attack, the Bulldogs suffered a straight-set sweep by scores of 18-25, 10-25, 15-25.
Redlands' best effort came in the opening set, which began with back-to-back kills by sophomore middle hitter Sofia Olsson (Cupertino, CA) and freshman outside hitter Savannah Casey (Encinitas, CA) on assists from sophomore setter Emily Marty (Chula Vista, CA).
Although Chapman rattled off a 6-1 run, the Bulldogs battled to stay in the set with crafty kills by sophomore outside hitter Christina Casey (Sherwood, OR), Marty, Olsson, and S. Casey.
Down 10-18, Redlands looked to S. Casey to stay hot at the net with a pair of kills on consecutive rallies, while the Bulldogs' tough defense forced the Panthers into multiple errors to make it 18-22. However, Chapman pulled away with solid hitting and relentless defense to secure the opening set.
The second and third sets quickly got away from the Maroon and Gray as a result of Chapman's consistently successful play at the net.
Overall, Redlands was paced by S. Casey, who fired off a career-high 10 kills at a .269 clip. Marty distributed 14 assists in the loss.
The Bulldogs (6-13, 2-9 SCIAC) travels to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Tuesday, October 17, for a conference tilt against the Sagehens at 7 p.m.
