Friday night the University of Redlands women's volleyball team took on Occidental College for its annual Dig Pink fundraiser, which raises money to support breast cancer research. The Bulldogs (8-16, 5-8 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) swept the Tigers on set scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-19.
Junior libero Ally Busch (Long Beach, CA) led the Bulldogs with 18 digs on the night, helping Redlands finish with 52 digs total.
Offensively, junior middle blocker Hannah Lanyon (San Diego, CA) led Redlands with seven kills on the night, while sophomore outside hitters Paige Davidson (Spanaway, WA) and Natalie Starlin (Las Vegas, NV), along with senior middle blocker Sofia Olsson (Cupertino, CA), posted six kills apiece.
The Tigers may have grabbed a 4-2 lead early in the first, but the Bulldogs responded well with six-straight points. Starlin got the run going with a kill to send Busch to the line, where she served up one of her three aces on the night to keep momentum in Redlands' favor. Starlin had two kills and senior right-side hitter Maloree Kupp (Sunnyside, WA) also got in on the scoring with a kill.
It forced an Occidental timeout, allowing the Tigers to regroup and close the deficit before pulling even at 8-8.
Redlands took back its lead on the next point and created some separation with Davidson at the line. Davidson had two aces and a kill to put the Bulldogs up by five, 18-13. Redlands didn't let down from there and took the first set 25-15.
Things were close early in the second until Olsson sparked a five-point scoring spree for Redlands. Davidson had a kill, Busch had an ace and Lanyon had a solo stuff during the run to push the Bulldogs in front 15-9.
Occidental managed to pull within two, 18-20, but four-straight kills from the Bulldogs gave them set point. The Tigers tried to rally and responded with two points of their own, but senior setter Emily Marty (San Diego, CA) took advantage of an opportunity to dump the ball over the net for a kill and ended the set 25-20.
Redlands carried momentum into the third, opening on a 5-1 scoring drive.
Once again, the Tigers tried to battle back, but the Bulldogs wouldn't let the visitors gain any momentum as Busch sealed the 25-19 victory with an ace to give Redlands the three-set sweep.
The Bulldogs hit the road for a match at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Tuesday, Oct. 29, before returning home for their last home match on Friday, Nov. 1. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. against La Verne, with six seniors being honored prior to first serve.
