With tenacious defense and a refusal to give up, the University of Redlands Bulldogs defeated the visiting Leopards of the University of La Verne in tonight’s Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Volleyball Tournament final in five sets, 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 17-25, 17-15.

With the victory, Redlands earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. This marks the Maroon and Gray’s third overall appearance at the “Big Dance” and its second since the 2006 season.

Although the Bulldogs’ starting setter, senior Kelina Smith (Kurtistown, HI), was sidelined by illness, the team remained focused on the prize and stepped up to the challenge. Rallying around back-up setter sophomore Allison Light (Wildomar, CA), Redlands relied on its impressive defense with 14.0 blocks and 123 digs, which both bested the Leopards.

The opening stanza set the tone for the match as a highly competitive and close contest. With the score going back and forth, each team remained in the hunt for victory until the very end. Tied for the final time at 23, Redlands’ junior outside hitter Jackie Hamilton (Loma Linda, CA) put away one of her 15 kills for set point. With senior libero Lauren Harding (Altadena, CA) serving, the Bulldogs won the set off of a stuff block by junior middle blocker Megan Phillips (Vista, CA).

During the second set, the La Verne offense took over and jumped out to a 5-2 lead when senior outside hitter Crista Jones (Fresno, CA) ripped a ball to the floor. Although the Bulldogs clawed their way back into the set and tied the score at 10, they struggled with errors on the next few plays, giving the Leopards a 20-13 advantage. La Verne remained in control of the set, as freshman outside hitter Randi Toomay (Glendora, CA) took care of the ball for set point and then served out the set.

The third set saw much of the same as the lead bounced from one team to the other. Tied at 18, Redlands quickly dug a four-point hole due to three hitting errors in four rallies. However, the Bulldogs fought back with senior outside hitter Ali Massei (San Carlos, CA) earning one of her team-leading 16 kills, followed by a kill by senior right side hitter Katy Douglass (Roseville, CA). An attack error by the Leopards put Redlands right back in the match at 21-22. The Bulldogs later earned set point at 24-23 as Massei took care of the ball once again, but Toomay replied for the Leopards with a kill to tie it at 24. After the teams traded points, Redlands’ Massei essentially won the set with another kill and a service ace down the line.

Faced with another deficit, the Leopards stormed back in the fourth stanza by gaining an early lead at 10-6 and never looked back en route to the 25-17 win. Redlands struggled with attack errors while La Verne’s offense simply erupted, earning its best hitting percentage of the night at .209.

The fifth set proved to be a true barn-burner, with each team facing match point but rallying back. This time, the result was in favor of the Bulldogs as they fought off the Leopards one more time for the overall victory. Eventually, the Maroon and Gray held the match in its hands with the serve at 14-12. An untimely service error followed by an attack error tied the score at 14. However, a huge block by Light, junior middle blocker Kirby McCord (Huntington Beach, CA), and Massei put the Bulldogs up by one. Nonetheless, the Leopards pushed back with another kill by Toomay to tie it at 15. This time, Redlands took care of business as Hamilton crushed a ball to go up 16-15 and then a hitting error by the Leopards resulted in the hard-fought victory for the Bulldogs.

In addition to Massei and Hamilton, Redlands gained solid hitting performances from Phillips and McCord with 11 kills each. Light effectively stepped into the important role at setter by dishing out 46 assists, while the team chipped in 16 more. Harding remained relentless in the back row with 38 digs, many of which kept the Bulldogs in the rally off of a crushing attack by the Leopards. Hamilton also came up with some huge defensive plays by contributing 27 digs. The Bulldogs blocked well and were lead by Phillips’ seven block assists and two solo blocks. Massei also provided six block assists, with Light adding five.

For La Verne, Jones racked up 28 kills for a hitting percentage of .268. Junior opposite hitter Anna Calmer (La Habra, CA) and Toomay backed her with 11 apiece. Freshman setter Kendall Kraiss (Huntington Beach, CA) and senior setter Yesenia Lopez (West Covina, CA) shared setting duties again, providing 27 and 25 assists, respectively. Junior libero Chelsea Sleight (Long Beach, CA) tallied 32 digs for the Leopards, while freshman middle blocker Catie Logan (Beaverton, OR) and senior middle blocker Ashley Morgado (Hacienda Heights, CA) each came up with six block assists.

The Bulldogs now look forward to the announcement of the NCAA bracket, which should be made on Monday morning.