CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Volleyball team wrapped up the Pacific Coast Classic Saturday dropping a pair of matches against UC Santa Cruz and Linfield University.
The Bulldogs end the two day event going 0-4 and now turn their sights to the Redlands Mini-Tournament next Saturday, September 10 when they welcome in Caltech and Antelope Valley College. Three matches will be played inside Currier Gym with the Bulldogs and Beavers playing an exhibition at 10:00am followed by Caltech/Antelope Valley (12:00pm) and Redlands/Antelope valley (2:00pm).
Match 1 (UC Santa Cruz - L, 25-10, 25-10, 25-10)
The Bulldogs won the first point of the match against the Banana Slugs, but that was the only lead they would hold as they found themselves trailing by as many as 14 (20-6). Paige Sugg (Federal Way, WA) and Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA) both posted a pair of kills in the set.
Redlands got behind quickly in the second set 10-1 before taking three-of-the-next-four thanks to a trio of Banana Slug errors. Kiana Stradford (Mission Viejo, CA) and Sugg each posted kills off Shelby Dawson (Fontana, CA) assists as they pulled within seven.
After an extended scoreless run, the Bulldogs earned three points late with two of them coming in the form of a kill and service ace from Ella Goettsche (Eastvale, CA).
In a must win third, the Bulldogs were deadlocked at two and kept it tight at 9-7 thanks to Katie Allbery (Spokane, WA) and Stradford who each had two kills to help keep the Bulldogs attached.
But despite the good start, the Banana Slugs went on a 7-0 run, while winning sixteen of the final nineteen points to put the match away.
Allbery and Stradford each had a team-high four kills. Saku Yoshioka (Glendale, CA) had a team-high 11 digs.
Match 2 (Linfield - L, 25-19, 25-16, 17-25, 25-19)
The second match on the day the Maroon and Grey looked to compete against their Northwest Conference rival Linfield University and they did just that. It was a tight match-up throughout with UR taking the third set to extend the match, but couldn't gain momentum off of it as they would drop in four.
After trailing early in the first set the Maroon and Grey found themselves on top, 11-9, thanks to a 6-1 run that included kills by Kylie Martin (Centennial, CO), Laural Pittman (Los Angeles, CA), and Allbery. The Wildcats however would weather the storm fighting back to tie things up on three different occasions down the stretch before closing out the set with six unanswered.
The second set was back-and-forth with ties coming six different times, the last at 12-12 thanks to Stradford who added a pair of aces. But across the final seventeen points the Bulldogs would get outscored 13-4 allowing the Wildcats to take a 2-0 lead.
It was a slow start for UR to begin the third frame, but put together nine in a row, giving them a six-point lead, 11-5. During the run Goettsche notched four aces and Sugg added three kills. This momentum didn't last though as Linfield would rally to take the lead right back at 16-14. But again Redlands was able to find that spark again ending the set with an 11-1 run, which included a pair of kills from Stradford and Sugg along with two aces by Yoshioka. Despite keeping the match alive the Bulldogs were unable to build momentum in the fourth set falling behind 8-2 and 17-10. They did string together an 8-3 run to pull within two at 19-17 as Allbery and Sugg would combine for a pair of late strikes. But it was too late as Linfield would gather themselves to finish the match off with their own 6-2 spurt.
Stradford tied for a game-high three blocks, Sugg had a game-high 12 kills, her second double-digit kill match in her first four career matches, Dawson had 14 assists and six digs, Goettsche had a great all-around match with eight kills, eight assists, nine digs, and five aces.
