REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Volleyball team fell in three sets inside Currier Gym against the Beavers of the California Institute of Technology Tuesday night. The Bulldogs had leads in the second and third sets but couldn't hold them as they fell 25-19, 25-15, 25-15.
Junior Saudya Reagor (Banning, Calif.) opened the Bulldogs' scoring on the night with a kill from a Bella Thornbury (Grass Valley, Calif.) assist. It was a tough opening eight points for the U of R, down 7-1, but capitalizing on a couple Beaver hitting errors and a Laural Pittman (Granada Hills, Calif.) service ace, which closed the gap.
Trailing 19-9 the Bulldogs put together a rally winning seven of eight points and got within four, 20-16. During the run senior Natalie Starlin (Las Vegas, Nev.), sophomore Makayla Sorenson (Lakewood, Calif.) and graduate student Angelina Hughes (Wildomar, Calif.) would combine for five kills and used a couple CIT mistakes to stay close. But the early deficit was too much to overcome as the Beavers would go in front.
The Bulldogs got off to a strong start in the second set, holding leads at 4-1, 5-2, and 6-3. Hughes got two more kills and was joined by senior Paige Davidson (Spanaway, Wash.) and first-year setter Shelby Dawson (Fontana, Calif.) who both tallied their first kills on the evening.
After the Beavers closed the deficit and took their first lead at 14-13 Starlin got a kill to even the score and was then followed by first-year Maddy Schonauer (Bakersfield, Calif.) getting a service ace to give the lead back to U of R, 15-14. Unfortunately that was the last lead held by the Bulldogs as they saw Angel Wang and Caltech string together ten unanswered that gave them the second set 25-15.
The third set matched the early stages of the second with the Bulldogs holding leads at 4-1 and 5-2. Along with some Beaver miscues, sophomore Hannah Miller (Round Rock, Tex.) had a service ace during the UR fast start. The Beavers came back to tie the frame at five, but the Bulldogs responded with three quick points from a Kiki Stradford (Lake Forest, Calif.) kill and a service ace by Hughes.
Following a mid-set lull from UR that put them down six, 16-10, the U of R put together four unanswered to cut the deficit to two, 16-14. During the run Miller provided another two kills along with Hughes. But again Caltech was able to stop the momentum winning nine of the next ten points to take the road sweep.
Pittman and Davidson each had a team-high 13 digs. Dawson led with a team-high 11 assists. Hughes and Starlin finished with five kills apiece and Stradford, Davidson, and Sorenson all added two block assists.
The Bulldogs return to the court with a road matchup against Occidental College this Saturday, October 16 beginning at 6:00pm.