The 2010 edition of Bulldog women's water polo competed against some of the best opponents in the sport en route to an overall record of 15-14 while challenging an incredibly deep contingent of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foes during its 6-4 showing. Facing teams from all levels of competition, including Division I and II, Redlands won more than half of its games for the first since the 2006 season. In addition, three players broke into the top-10 lists at Redlands for individual achievements during the season.

Known for competing with the best teams available, Head Coach Tom Whittemore's squad faced an early losing skid while developing a younger roster that included just five upperclassmen.

Redlands rebounded on March 13 with back-to-back resounding wins over Carthage College (WI) and Chatham College (PA) during the Chapman Tournament. Against Carthage, freshman driver Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) led the scoring onslaught with four goals. Five other players provided two goals apiece while an additional seven Bulldogs rattled the cage once. During the 22-3 rout of Chatham, freshman driver Georgia Tunioli (Riverside, CT) exploded for five goals, while junior driver Chandler Weeks (Palm Desert, CA) popped off four scores.

Just one day later, the Bulldogs hosted the second Redlands mini-tournament of the season, garnering an 8-6 decision over regional rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in a non-conference bout. A well-balanced attack propelled the team to victory with seven different players finding the back of the net.

The Maroon and Gray posted a solid 3-1 showing at the Cal Baptist Invitational on March 19-20. The team held on for the 8-7 win over Fresno Pacific University with sophomore center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR) leading the charge with four goals.

The Bulldogs' momentum continued in their second match-up of the day, leading to an impressive 21-9 victory against Macalester College (MN). Freshman driver Moana Tuipulotu (Lahaina, HI) energized the Redlands offense by scoring four goals.

After dropping a difficult one-goal loss to Azusa Pacific University, Redlands rallied back to edge George Washington University (DC) by a score of 10-9. Nippert poured in another four goals against the Colonials, while sophomore driver Joy Corona (Lake Bluff, IL) supplemented Nippert's offensive output with three scores of her own.

A week later, the Bulldog women's water polo team competed at the Claremont Convergence for a final tune-up tournament before opening SCIAC play. Redlands secured a 2-2 record during this two-day event, topping nearby foe Chapman University by a score of 15-5, before taking down conference rival Whittier College in a tight 8-6 contest. Stein buried three goals against the Panthers, spearheading the Bulldogs' offensive attack. Senior goalkeeper Whitney Schieler (Porterville, CA) turned away 12 Poet shots to help the Maroon and Gray pull out the narrow victory against Whittier.

Redlands wrapped up its non-conference schedule by prevailing in a sudden-death overtime battle with Cal State San Bernardino on March 31. Nippert paced the Bulldogs with four goals, while sophomore driver Casey Sripramong (Glendale, CA) netted a hat trick, including the winning goal in overtime period.

The Maroon and Gray faced the eventual SCIAC champions and runners-up in its first two match-ups of the conference campaign, suffering tough back-to-back losses to begin the final stretch of the year.

The Bulldogs fought through this adversity by tallying four consecutive victories, including a trio of double-digit scoring explosions of 16, 14 and 19 goals. In addition, Redlands staved off a persistent Athena squad from CMS in a hard-fought 6-5 performance on April 17 in which Schieler made an incredible 13 stops in the cage.

Following a difficult 5-11 defeat to Occidental College, the Maroon and Gray entered the SCIAC Championship Tournament as the No. 4 seed and faced CMS in the first round. In an impressive defensive bout for both teams, Redlands succumbed to the Athenas for the first time all season, settling for a 2-3 decision. This first-round loss sequestered the Bulldogs to the consolation bracket, battling for a best outcome of fifth-place.

The team regrouped and blasted Caltech for the second time this year, earning an 18-3 lopsided victory. Freshman driver Kara Parker (Houston, TX) recorded her first hat trick of the season to lead the Bulldog offense. Freshman goalkeeper Cecile Gernez (Mountain View, CA) and junior goalkeeper Tiana Singley (Benicia, CA) shared time in net, making three and two saves, respectively.

This victory propelled Redlands onto the fifth-place game against Whittier. On the heels of Tuipulotu's four scores, the Bulldogs pushed past the Poets by a score of 12-7. Schieler turned away 10 shots while guarding the Redlands cage.

By combining the results of the round-robin competition with the tournament, the Redlands women's water polo team finished in a tie for fourth place. Unfortunately, this finish was not strong enough to garner a spot at the Collegiate III Championship Tournament, forcing the Bulldogs to miss the cut for only the second time since the event's inception.

As the team's leading scorer, Nippert garnered First-Team All-SCIAC laurels, while Schieler was named to the All-SCIAC Second-Team as the team's starting net-minder.

Schieler also landed on the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District At-Large Second Team for her athletic and academic success.

In her fourth and final season, Schieler posted the third-most saves in a season with 205 for a career total of 550, which places her fourth all-time at Redlands. In addition, her career marks for goalie steals (89) and goalie assists (29) reset the school's standard in both categories, thus leaving a legacy behind for future Bulldog keepers.

Beyond these individual accomplishments, Weeks broke into the single-season top-10 list with 31 assists for ninth place, while Corona sits sixth with 59 ejections drawn.

Though the graduation of Schieler and senior Jade Valenzuela (Indio, CA) certainly requires attention, the Bulldog women's water polo boasts a now much more experienced crew of freshmen and sophomores to complement the talents of the junior class during the 2011 campaign. With Head Coach Tom Whittemore entering his 17th year at the helm of the program and his 23rd season of coaching, Redlands sits in great position to go after the Bulldogs' 10th SCIAC title en route to a possible ninth Collegiate III crown.