CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Volleyball team got their 2022 season underway Friday afternoon at the Pacific Coast Classic hosted by Pomona-Pitzer, the University of La Verne and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Bulldogs who last played in this event back in 2019 got off to a strong start against St. Scholastica, but couldn't hold the early lead falling in five sets. They then ended the first day of matches against Sul Ross State where they would get swept.
Match 1 (St. Scholastica - L, 26-24, 25-20, 18-25, 19-25, 6-15)
Redlands got off to a hot start holding a commanding 2-0 lead before seeing the Saints battle back to win in five.
In the opening frame the Bulldogs and Saints stayed within a couple points going back and forth throughout before Redlands pulled out the 26-24 win. During the set Redlands led early 11-6 with kills coming from Paige Sugg (Federal Way, WA), Kylie Martin (Centennial, CO), and Sofia Stemberga (San Francisco, CA).
This lead held until the Saints took a 24-23 lead, which wouldn't hold as the Maroon and Grey would string together three-straight before taking the early lead.
In the second set UR led from start to finish, jumping out to a double digit advantage, 22-12 before holding off a late comeback to put the Saints in a hole. During the set Sugg led the way with six kills and two service aces.
In the third set the Bulldogs won the first two points off a Sugg kill and an attacking error by the Saints. They led 4-2, but saw the Saints win the next four points, eventually taking their largest lead of the match at seven, 15-8. The Bulldogs were able to reduce the deficit to four, 22-18, thanks to three kills from Kiana Stradford (Mission Viejo, CA), but the Saints were able to weather the storm claiming the final three points to keep their hopes alive.
St. Scholastica carried this momentum into the fourth set and it was a carbon copy of the third with the Bulldogs leading 4-2 before the Saints took the lead. After falling behind by three, 9-6, the Bulldogs won five of the next six points to go on top 11-10. After that the frame became deadlocked on another four occasions, with the last coming at 16-16, following a service ace by Laural Pittman (Los Angeles, CA). But that's as close as UR would get as St. Scholastica would go on a 6-0 run clinching the fourth set and forcing a decisive fifth.
In the deciding period, Katie Allbery (Spokane, WA) took over recording two kills off a pair of Bella Thornbury (Grass Valley, CA) assists as the Bulldogs led early 3-0. But, despite the quick start, the Saints would go on to win 15 of the final 18 points to complete the comeback win victory.
First-year Sugg finished with a double-double, which included 10 kills, 10 digs, two service aces and a block. Pittman registered 25 digs, Thornbury had a team-high 22 assists along with 12 digs, and Stradford had a game-high five blocks.
As a team the Bulldogs posted 43 kills, eight service aces, and six total blocks.
Match 2 (Sul Ross State - L, 25-10, 25-10, 25-16)
In their second match of the day the Bulldogs took on a tough Sul Ross State team. They fell behind early 6-1, receiving their first two points off kills from Sugg and Stradford.
Ella Goettsche (Eastvale, CA) picked up a kill during a 3-0 Bulldog run that made the deficit ten, 16-6. Sugg added two more kills and transfer Saku Yoshnioka (Glendale, CA) registered a kill as the Bulldogs dropped set one.
Allbery opened the second set scoring with a kill and Goettsche evened the set at two with a kill of her own, but the next eight points would go to Sul Ross State as they would go on to win 25-10. During the period Stradford, Stemberga, and Sugg all registered kills.
Another new face for the Bulldog program was Martin, who tallied the first two points of the third set with a kill followed by a service ace to get Redlands out in front early. After that Allbery and Sugg would tally a pair of kills that tied the set up, but after that it was all Lobos, despite three in a row from UR, which included Sugg racking up two more kills to her impressive start for her collegiate career. Redlands and Sul Ross State were tied on three different occasions in the frame before the Lobos would finish things off with a 15-6 run.
Sugg led the offense again with eight kills, while hitting .278. Goettsche added eight assists and Pittman tallied nine pick-ups in the backrow.
The Bulldogs will look to get in the win column tomorrow, Saturday, September 3 with two more matches. They will take on UC Santa Cruz (at CMS) and Linfield (at CMS) with start times scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.