The University of Redlands women's water polo team opened up the season with an 11-8 victory over Ottawa University (AZ) in a non-conference matchup on Sunday morning at the Thompson Aquatic Center.
Senior attacker Hunter Olivier (Indio, CA) found the back of the net early on a power-play goal less than two minutes into the contest. Although the Spirit scored the next two goals, Redlands answered with scored from four different players to make it 5-2 by the two-minute mark in the second quarter. During the run, sophomore attacker Holly Kvanvig (Beaverton, OR) scored on a 5m penalty and also dished an assist. Ottawa scored on a power play of their own in the final minute, but the Maroon and Gray headed into halftime with a 5-3 advantage.
After Kvanvig took advantage of Ottawa's exclusion with a power-play score in the first minute of the third, the Maroon and Gray scored five unanswered goals over the next five minutes. Kvanvig assisted on three consecutive tallies to help her team to a 10-3 lead with 3:01 left in the period.
Despite the Spirit closing the gap with a 5-1 run to end the game, first-year Katrina Nielsen's (Houston, TX) insurance goal with 1:55 left on the clock secured the Bulldogs' 11-8 season-opening victory.
For the game, Olivier led the team with three goals and five steals, while Kvanvig owned a game-high four assists to go along with her two goals and two steals. Defensively, Nielsen and junior attacker Kelly Klish (Glenview, IL) each tallied three steals.
Redlands (1-0) looks forward to hosting the Bulldog Invitational on Saturday, February 15, and Sunday, February 16 with their first matchup coming against Cal State University Northridge at 1:40 p.m.