REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Volleyball team played their third game in five days Saturday afternoon falling in straight sets 25-16, 25-13, 25-11 to Chapman University.
Junior Saudya Reagor (Banning, Calif.) got the first point of the match with a kill from a Shelby Dawson (Fontana, Calif.) assist. After that Chapman rolled off six in a row before extending the advantage to 15-6. The Bulldogs then won five of the next seven points to get within six, 17-11 thanks to sophomore Kiki Stradford (Lake Forest, Calif.), Reagor and sophomore Katie Allbery (Spokane, Wash.) all recording kills. But this six-point deficit was as close as UR would get as the Panthers would close out the opening set winning six of the final nine points.
The second set saw the Bulldogs get off to a fast start jumping out to a 4-2 lead. Stradford and graduate student Angelina Hughes (Wildomar, Calif.) opened the scoring with a block. Hughes then recorded the second point with a kill and Laural Pittman (Granada Hills, Calif.) put on a serving clinic with a pair of aces.
The game then saw seven ties after that with a deadlock at 10-10. But after that CU would rally winning eight in a row to take an 18-10 advantage, before closing out the second set 25-13.
U of R started fast again in the third set, this time jumping out to leads of 3-1 and 5-3. Stradford had a pair of kills and an assisted block and Reagor and Makayla Sorenson (Lakewood, Calif.) teamed up for another stuff up front.
An extended serving run for the Panthers moved the score to 13-5, before senior Natalie Starlin (Las Vegas, NV) ended the run with a kill. Redlands was able to get another two kills from Reagor and Starlin down the stretch, but it wouldn't be enough to get momentum as CU would take the third.
The Bulldogs saw their defense improve from set one to three, going from allowing a .455 and .407 hitting percentage for the first two sets, down to .167 in the third.
Starlin put together another good performance with a team-high seven kills. Reagor was able to chip in across the board with six kills, three digs, and two blocks. Pittman had a team-high 11 digs. Sophomore Bella Thornbury (Grass Valley, Calif.) also had an all-around performance with eight assists, two kills, and two digs.
The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday, October 5 at 7:00pm with a road contest against Pomona-Pitzer.