The University of Redlands volleyball team's struggles continued tonight in its opening Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match as the Bulldogs fell in four set to Whittier College, 25-23, 11-25, 10-25, 23-25.
Redlands competed well in the opening set and overcame an early four-point deficit. The team rallied to break a 14-all tie with a big kill by senior outside hitter Dorothy Catanese, (Corona, CA) followed by a triple block by Catanese, senior right side Alex Martin (Highlands Ranch, CO) and freshman middle blocker Maddi Clark (Escondido,CA).
The Maroon and Gray kept the momentum going with back-to-back kills from the freshman duo of Clark and outside hitter Jackie Starks (Long Beach, CA), and eventually put the set-one victory in the books by taking advantage of Poet errors.
However, Whittier made quick adjustments in the subsequent two sets, running away with the wins with ease. As a team, the Poets unleashed their best attacking performance with showings of .261 and .385, led by sophomore outside hitter Alayna Rigo (Chino Hills, CA), who went on to knock down a match-high 19 kills.
The fourth set saw a tight, back-and-forth battle, with Whittier nabbing an early 8-5 lead before Clark served five straight points to make it 11-8 in Redlands' favor.
The Poets clawed their way back to tie it at 11 apiece. The competition remained tight with knotted scores at 14 and again at 16.
Whittier surged ahead only to have the Bulldogs respond by evening the set at 23 each.
However, the comeback ended there as the Poets finished out the set with consecutive points to secure the 3-1 victory.
In addition to Rigo, Whittier (2-6, 1-1 SCIAC) gained 13 kills from junior outside hitter Alyssa Sialaris (San Jose, CA). Senior setter Alessandra Rios (La Habra, CA) dished out a match-high 41 assists, while sophomore libero Adriana Moore (Whittier, CA) recorded 19 digs to lead all players.
Redlands collected 12 kills from Starks and 18 assists from sophomore setter Jennifer Wacker (Longmont, CO).
Redlands (0-7, 0-1 SCIAC) strives to halt its skid on Friday when it hosts Chapman University at 4 p.m., followed by a 7:30 p.m. showdown against Caltech.
