Women's Water Polo's Strong Fourth Quarter Not Enough to Overcome La Verne

Photo Credit: Rachel Roche
Photo Credit: Rachel Roche
Posted: Mar 04, 2020

The Redlands women's water polo team welcomed the University of La Verne to the Thompson Aquatic Center for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game on Wednesday night. In a defense-heavy and physical game that included 19 turnovers and 28 exclusions, the Bulldogs strung together a nice fourth quarter but came up short in a 6-10 decision.

Despite La Verne scoring first, junior defender Sarah Draves (Fallbrook, CA) scored the equalizer at 3:33 for a 1-1 tie in the first.

However, momentum began to swing in favor of La Verne as the Leopards went on to score three more to end the first and open the second to put the Bulldogs in a 1-4 hole at 6:18 in the second.

Senior attacker Hunter Olivier (Indio, CA) put found the back of the net on a powerplay at 5:42 right after a Redlands timeout to chip away at the deficit, 2-4.

Fast forward to 5:21 in the third, junior attacker Kelly Klish (Glenview, IL) drew an exclusion and then found junior attacker Katelynn Holloman (Wildomar, CA) for the score. But the Leopards managed three goals in the third for Redlands to enter the fourth down, 3-8.

Two minutes into the fourth offense started to shift for the Maroon and Gray as Olivier and sophomore attacker Holly Kvanvig (Beaverton, OR) scored solo goals only 26 seconds apart for a nice offensive spurt and a 5-9 score.

Olivier put one through the posts once more before time expired, but Redlands could not overcome La Verne's early lead, ultimately falling 6-10.

Olivier got it done on both sides of the pool for the second game in a row with a team-leading three goals, four drawn exclusions, one steal, and one defensive block. Holloman and Klish also added a couple of field blocks on defense.

Redlands (3-5, 1-2 SCIAC) looks forward to competing in the annual Gary Troyer Tournament at Axelrood Pool on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. The team will be taking on Division I and II opponents Villanova (PA) and CSU Monterey Bay on Friday, March 6, and Sonoma State and St. Francis University (PA) on Saturday, March 7.