The University of Redlands women's water polo team made the short trek to the University of La Verne on Saturday morning for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown against the Leopards. Amidst a tight battle through three periods, the Bulldogs stalled in the fourth and ultimately fell by a score of 4-8.
After five scoreless minutes of action, the Bulldogs finally broke the seal with a sweet goal at the 3:11-mark of the first period. Junior attacker Hunter Olivier (Indio, CA) found senior center Kolby Kahahawai (Kailua, HI) for the Maroon and Gray's 1-0 lead.
Although ULV answered early in the second frame, Redlands regained its lead by taking advantage of a power-play with 6:57 left. After the Bulldogs worked the ball around, senior attacker Katelyn Jenkins (Bellevue, WA) connected with first-year attacker Holly Kvanvig (Beaverton, OR), who fired the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
However, the Leopards closed out the second frame with a pair of goals in the final 4:23 to snag a 3-2 lead.
Nonetheless, Redlands evened the tally less than two minutes into the third, as senior defender Carmen Gardner (South San Francisco, CA) delivered the ball to Kahahawai, who squeezed her shot through traffic and past the ULV goalkeeper.
Unfortunately, the momentum shifted in favor of La Verne, which scored five more goals before the end of the game. In the meantime, Redlands' only score of the final 13 minutes came off the hands of Kvanvig with 10 seconds left on the clock.
Senior goalkeeper Kelly Grosswendt (Newbury Park, CA) made six saves and nabbed two steals in a complete-game effort.
Redlands (11-14, 4-5 SCIAC) kicks off the month of April with a home SCIAC match against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday, April 3, at 7 p.m.