The University of Redlands women's volleyball team made the short trip to the University of La Verne for Tuesday night's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match. The Bulldogs struggled to find their offensive rhythm and came home with a three-set loss by scores of 12-25, 18-25, 19-25.
The Maroon and Gray faced an uphill battle from the early part of the match, as the Leopards built a 15-4 advantage off an efficient attack. Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Lanyon (San Diego, CA) initiated a short Bulldog comeback with her kill to make it 6-16. After first-year setter Tati Luevano (San Pablo, CA) found sophomore right-side hitter Savannah Casey (Encinitas, CA) for another kill, Redlands looked to junior outside hitter Christina Casey (Sherwood, OR) to put down an ace. First-year outside hitter Natalie Starlin (Las Vegas, NV) and junior middle blocker Sofia Olsson (Cupertino, CA) each found hardwood late in the set but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.
Redlands battled in the second set and kept things tight through 11-all. Junior right-side hitter Maloree Kupp (Sunnyside, WA) did her part with critical kills and tough blocking early on. Olsson, C. Casey, and Lanyon remained effective along the net, while first-year outside hitter Paige Davidson (Spanaway, WA) added to the team's arsenal as well.
However, La Verne pulled away at 20-17 and held off the Bulldogs' late push.
During the third set, the Maroon and Gray jumped out to a 6-4 lead by taking advantage of multiple Leopard miscues. Tough defense from sophomore libero Ally Busch (Long Beach, CA) and others kept Redlands in front.
Nonetheless, ULV's offense got hot with a six-point scoring spurt off rally-terminating kills. Redlands tried to answer with a big block by Kupp and Lanyon, as Davidson found hardwood late in the set. But the Bulldogs ultimately came up short.
Lanyon paced the offense with six kills, while Olsson added five. Luevano dished out 21 assists and Busch provided 11 digs.
Redlands (11-12, 2-10 SCIAC) takes on No. 6 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Friday, October 19, at 7 p.m. during Senior Night in Currier Gym.