The University of Redlands (21-5, 12-2 SCIAC) and the University of La Verne (21-12, 10-4 SCIAC) both prevailed over their respective opponents in tonight’s semifinals of the 2009 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Volleyball Tournament. These teams now look forward to facing each other in the final on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Currier Gym at Redlands.

In tonight’s 5 p.m. semifinal match, the Leopards of La Verne held off a late push by the tenacious Regals of Cal Lutheran University, 3-1 (27-25, 25-15, 21-25, 30-28).

The Bulldogs then extinguished a fired-up Pomona-Pitzer Colleges squad during the second semifinal match, winning by a score of 3-1 (27-25, 25-27, 25-15, 25-12).

In the opening tilt, La Verne and Cal Lutheran went head-to-head in a fierce back-and-forth battle. Faced with two set points, the Regals’ Megan Thorpe responded with consecutive kills to tie it up at 24 all. An untimely attack error by the Leopards gave Cal Lutheran its first set point but then ULV’s Crista Jones stormed back with a kill to even the score at 25. From here, La Verne’s Jones and Anna Calmer teamed up for the final two points with two kills, resulting in the 27-25 victory for the Leopards.

The second set was all La Verne, who quickly jumped out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back en route to the 25-15 win.

Despite facing a two-set deficit, the Regals clawed their way back into the match during the third set, relying on big plays from Thorpe and Rachel Smith. CLU was trailing from the opening serve but eventually tied it up at 15. At 19 all, Thorpe put away a ball to give the Regals a one-point lead, which was all they needed as they stayed ahead for the remainder of the set, winning by a score of 25-21.

Cal Lutheran appeared to have the momentum entering the fourth but gave up an early lead at 8-11. La Verne remained composed and kept plugging away but the Regals refused to give in. Down 12-18, CLU mounted a comeback that stemmed from a persistent and well-rounded offense. The Regals moved within one at 22-23 and then 11 consecutive kills finished out the next 11 points, resulting in a one-point La Verne lead at 28-27. Finally, the Leopards took advantage of CLU’s errors and prevailed by a score of 30-28 to win the match and advance onto the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.

Thorpe carried the Regals with 22 kills and a .234 hitting percentage. Smith added 15 kills for a mark of .200. Five players offered 12 or more digs with Jenna Meligan leading the way with 24. Jackie Russell distributed 48 assists for Cal Lutheran.

La Verne was paced by Jones’ 26 kills for a hitting percentage of .323. Calmer came alive late in the match and provided 14 kills at a .275 clip, while Randi Toomay added 15 kills for the Leopards. Yesenia Lopez and Kendall Kraiss shared setting duties, dishing out 32 and25 assists, respectively. Chelsea Sleight led the match with 32 digs.

In the second semifinal match, the Sagehens opened the competition with impressive blocking, effectively rattling the Bulldog front line and jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Tied at three, Redlands steadied its offense and put away four kills in the next five points to gain a 6-4 advantage. The Bulldogs extended their lead to six points but Pomona-Pitzer came firing back and eventually tied it up at 14. The Maroon and Gray’s offense appeared to go cold with the Sagehens taking a 22-19 lead. However, the Bulldogs bounced back with four consecutive kills to put them ahead by one point at 23-22. The score went back-and-forth, with Redlands tying it at 25 before kills by Ali Massei and Megan Phillips gave the victory to the Bulldogs.

Nonetheless, the battle continued into the second stanza as Pomona-Pitzer boasted its most efficient offense at a .200 clip, earning a slight advantage of Redlands’ .193 mark. The Sagehens took control early at 5-3 and owned the lead until the Bulldogs tied the set at 24 apiece. Redlands faced an untimely attack error as Pomona-Pitzer took care of the ball with back-to-back kills by Sarah Amos and Eleanor Hughes for the tight 27-25 victory.

The third set proved to be a permanent shift in momentum as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-1 lead and never relinquished control en route to a solid win by 10 points.

Redlands remained in control during the fourth stanza, gaining an even more impressive lead at 17-2. As the Bulldogs continued to earn points, the Sagehens struggled with errors, resulting in the decisive fourth-set and match win for the Maroon and Gray.

Overall, Pomona-Pitzer gained the slight edge in blocking but the Bulldogs took care of the ball on offense by hitting .244 as a team, compared to the Sagehens’ .134.

Pomona-Pitzer gained a team-leading 11 kills from Amos, while Dana Kittrelle and Hughes each contributed 10. Heidi Leonard patrolled the back row with 27 digs while three others added 13 or more. Kenzie Aries managed the offense well by dishing out 35 assists to go along with her four block assists.

For the Bulldogs, Jackie Hamilton came alive midway through the second set and earned a total of 20 kills for a .266 hitting percentage. Massei posted her season-best of 18 kills for a mark of .312. Hamilton and Lauren Harding teamed up on defense with 30 and 27 digs, respectively, while Kelina Smith distributed 57 assists. Phillips rounded out the top Redlands attackers with 12 kills to go along with four block assists.

The winner of Saturday’s final match of the SCIAC Postseason Volleyball Tournament earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.