Following a tough five-set loss on Thursday, the University of
Redlands volleyball team has returned to its winning ways by
earning three consecutive victories over the past few days. The
Bulldogs took down Wisconsin Lutheran College and UC Santa Cruz in
non-conference competition on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Cal
Lutheran Fall Classic. The Maroon and Gray then returned to
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC)
action on Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a road game against
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, earning the hard-fought victory in five
sets.
Against Wisconsin Lutheran, Redlands opened the match with a tight
25-22 decision and then dominated the second stanza, 25-8. The
Warriors responded and pulled out a 25-23 victory to send the match
to a fourth set. The Maroon and Gray erupted offensively with a
.225 hitting percentage en route to the 25-13 win.
During the match, the Bulldogs relied on tough serving with seven
aces and strong blocking with 9.0 total stops to garner the
four-set win. A two-headed attack that included 12 kills from
junior middle blocker Megan Phillips (Vista, CA) and 17 put-aways
from junior outside hitter Jackie Hamilton (Loma Linda, CA) led the
offense, while senior libero Lauren Harding (Altadena, CA) posted
an impressive 44 digs.
Realizing that the sweep against Wisconsin Lutheran had slipped
away, the Bulldogs dominated play in their second match of the Cal
Lutheran Fall Classic, earning a solid 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 win over
the Banana Slugs. This time, Redlands posted an impressive .328
hitting percentage as a team, which was highlighted by Phillips,
Hamilton and senior outside hitter Ali Massei (San Carlos, CA).
Phillips posted a .667 mark off of 10 kills, no errors, and 15
attacks. Hamilton came up with 11 kills and a .229 hitting
percentage, while Massei contributed a .364 mark off of 10 kills,
two errors and 22 attempts.
On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs made the trip to
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for an important conference match against
the Athenas. Always competitive and intense, this match was no
different with the fifth set deciding the winner in favor of the
Bulldogs, 25-12, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-11. The same trio of
offensive players led the Maroon and Gray, as they accounted for 54
of the team’s 71 kills. Hamilton provided a match-high 26
kills at a .306 clip. Massei came up with 15 kills as Phillips
provided 13. As a team, Redlands posted a .223 hitting percentage,
compared to CMS’ mark of .105.
Also, the Bulldogs continued to rely on the steady defensive
performance of Harding as she racked up 32 digs. However, junior
defensive specialist Heather Anthony (Redwood City, CA) supplied 29
digs, with Hamilton adding 21 and Massei contributing 15.
With the victories, Redlands improves to 16-4, which already ranks
as Head Coach Mari Burningham’s second-best output of her
career with the Bulldogs. In addition, the Maroon and Gray remains
atop the SCIAC standings with a 1.5 game lead over second-place
University of La Verne.
Redlands heads to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Friday for an
important conference showdown against the Sagehens (12-10, 6-3
SCIAC), beginning at 7:30 p.m. When these two teams last competed,
the Bulldogs prevailed in a tight five-set thriller.
