LOS ANGLES – The University of Redlands women's volleyball team left it all on the court in a five-set thriller at Occidental College on Saturday night but fell short of the victory in a tight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown.
In the opening set, the teams kept it close through the first 14 points for a preview of what was to come in the close match ahead. Early on, Ella Goettsche (Eastvale, CA), Avery Heidebrecht (Portland, OR), Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, VA), and Kylie Martin (Centennial, CO) all posted kills, while Paige Sugg (Federal Way, WA) recorded two assists during that run.
After the Tigers pulled away at 12-7, the Bulldogs went on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 14. Sugg knocked down a kill and two service aces, while Goettsche added a pair of aces as well.
With back-and-forth action that resulted in a knotted score at 27-all, Redlands made the most of consecutive Tiger errors to win the set, 29-27.
However, the momentum shifted to the Tigers in the second set, who quickly held a 17-8 advantage. The Bulldogs answered with a 9-3 stretch to move within three, 20-17. Heidebrecht stepped up with a kill, as did Aminoff, while Lyric Waterman (Aurora, CO) tossed in an ace for the Maroon and Grey. Ultimately, the slow start cost the Bulldogs, as they dropped the second set, 25-18.
Sugg opened the scoring in the third set to help the Bulldogs earn a slight 3-2 lead. The Tigers regained the lead by capitalizing with a quick 4-0 run before the Bulldogs gained an ace from Delani Nevarez (Highland, CA) and a kill from Shelby Dawson (Fontana, CA) to tie things up at eight apiece. Each team mustered late-set spurts of scoring to gain additional ties at 19, 20, and 21, but the Tigers won four of the final five points to take a 25-22 decision and a 2-1 set advantage.
Early in the fourth, Dawson added another kill to her tally and Heidebrecht scored off a Dawson feed to help the Bulldogs to a 5-4 lead. Occidental took advantage of some Redlands miscues to go up, 15-11. Much like the previous sets, the Bulldogs fought back, and this time it paid off. Redlands ended the set on a 15-9 run to even the match at two sets apiece. Heidebrecht and Aminoff each offered a pair of kills, while Kiana Stradford (Mission Viejo, CA) started the late scoring with the first of the Bulldog kills.
In the deciding fifth set, the Tigers came out firing to secure a 5-0 lead and force the Bulldogs into a timeout. Redlands responded with a Sugg kill and ace, before Katie Allbery (Spokane, WA) buried a kill to make it a two-point game, 5-3.
Nonetheless, Occidental kept up the pressure by winning four unanswered points for the 9-3 lead. The Bulldogs clawed their way to a tight 12-10 score, when Sugg, Heidebrecht, and Stradford found hardwood for kills, which were sandwiched between some Tiger errors.
However, Occidental managed to finish out the set on top, 15-12, handing Redlands a tough five-set loss on the road.
Allbery was fantastic at the net, posting 10 block assists and one solo stop, by far a career-high after besting a pair of four-block performances earlier this season. She added six kills and three digs. Stradford had a team-high eight kills along with three assists, eight digs, and five total blocks for another great all-around game. Sugg registered a career-high 15 digs while still notching seven kills, two assists, and four blocks. Dawson had her second consecutive double-digit assist performance with 10, while Waterman posted her second career double-double with 13 digs and 12 assists.
As a team, the Bulldogs had 19 total blocks, 10 more than their previous season-high of nine vs. Caltech (Oct. 15).
The Bulldogs return to Currier Gym this coming Tuesday, Oct. 25, with their final SCIAC home game against the University of La Verne at 7 p.m. The team is hosting "DIG PINK" to benefit Pink Ribbon Place in Riverside.