The University of Redlands women's water polo team continued its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) journey on Wednesday night by traveling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges to take on the Athenas.  Amidst a back-and-forth battle that included four ties, the Bulldogs came up short in a hard-fought 8-9 decision.

After CMS jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Redlands responded when freshman attack player Sami Walker (Taylorsville, UT) fired one into the back of the net with 3:11 remaining in the first period.

Bulldog sophomore attack player Alea Weber (Haiku, HI) kicked off the second stanza with her goal, which tied things up at two apiece.

However, the Athenas scored in back-to-back fashion to take a 4-2 lead, before senior utility player Taylor Christie (Anaheim, CA) cut the Maroon and Gray's deficit to one with her first netter of the game.

Although CMS extended its advantage back to two, senior attack player Annie Kinney (Newport Beach, CA) stepped up for the Bulldogs with consecutive goals to even the count at five-apiece by the 5:14-mark of third frame.

The teams traded scores to close out the period in a knotted score of 6-6, with freshman utility player Kolby Kahahawai (Kailua, HI) uncorking the Bulldogs' goal.

This trend continued to start the fourth quarter, as Christie made it seven-all with 5:16 left in the contest.

Unfortunately for Redlands, CMS managed to build another two-goal lead with back-to-back netters, which provided just enough of an edge to keep the Bulldogs at bay.  A late score by Christie capped off her four-goal effort.

No goalkeeper statistics were available at the time of posting.

Redlands (5-17, 1-3 SCIAC) looks forward to competing in the friendly waters of the Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday, April 2, with an 11 a.m. conference showdown against the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens.