The University of Redlands volleyball team bounced back from Tuesday’s loss with a solid four-game victory over visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Currier Gym on Friday night. While taking advantage of the Athena errors, the Bulldogs also controlled the match with effective hitting, tough serving, and impressive blocking.

The Maroon and Gray jumped out to a sizeable lead in the opening stanza and never looked back, earning the 25-16 win. The team racked up four of its ten blocks and dominated the offense with its best hitting percentage of the night at .321.

Amidst a back-and-forth battle between the teams, CMS rebounded in the second set to earn the tight 25-22 victory. The Athenas improved their hitting percentage dramatically, going from -0.028 in the opener to .263 in the second set.

Redlands powered through the remaining games by capitalizing on CMS’ fickle attack while dominating the net with its intimidating block and more consistent offense. The Bulldogs fought back in the third set to win 25-17 and then cruised to the match victory with a 25-13 showing in the fourth.

Junior middle blocker Megan Phillips (Vista, CA) led the match with 14 kills for a .444 hitting percentage. She also tallied five block assists and six service aces. Junior outside hitter Jackie Hamilton (Loma Linda, CA) offered 12 kills and 14 digs to go along with four aces. Senior setter Kelina Smith (Kurtistown, HI) dished out 36 assists and contributed four block assists, while senior libero Lauren Harding (Altadena, CA) posted 21 digs.

Junior outside hitter Allie Macy (Walnut, CA) put away 11 kills as the only double-digit performer for CMS. Freshman setter Taylor Jones (Scottsdale, AZ) supplied 28 assists and junior libero Jessica Waggoner (Scottsdale, AZ) added 27 digs.

The Bulldogs (6-3, 1-1 SCIAC) host Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Currier Gym on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Athenas (5-7, 0-2 SCIAC) head to Whittier for tomorrow’s 2 p.m. match.