CLAREMONT, Calif – The University of Redlands volleyball team faced a tough match-up with No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday night, falling in straight sets 25-15, 25-6, 25-18.
The Bulldogs did play their best on offense and defense in terms of hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage in the third set. The Bulldogs went from hitting .156 in the first set to .194 in the third, and their defense dropped the Athenas' percentage from .571 in the first to .423 in the third.
Sophomore Kiki Stradford (Lake Forest, CA) opened the Bulldog scoring with a kill off an assist from first-year Shelby Dawson (Fontana, CA). After falling behind 9-3 in the first set, the Bulldogs responded with a 4-0 run with senior Natalie Starlin (Las Vegas, NV) scoring all four points, which included a pair of service aces and two kills.
Trailing 14-7 UR scored three of the next four points with Stradford and Paige Davidson (Sr., Spanaway, WA) combining for kills.
With the score at 19-11, the Bulldogs scored three of the next four points, again cutting the deficit to six now at 20-14. Starlin got the first two kills off Dawson and Laural Pittman (Granada Hills, CA) assists and junior Saudya Reagor (Banning, CA) joined with a kill that capped off the run.
Despite the final push, UR was unable to keep the momentum going, falling 25-15.
It was a slow start for the Bulldogs in the second set, with the Athenas jumping out to an early lead. Much like the first, Starlin was in the action, recording the Bulldogs' first offensive point of the set with a kill and was later joined by Reagor and Davidson, who all recorded kills throughout the frame in a 25-6 lost set.
The Bulldogs got off to the faster start in the third, jumping all over CMS and holding an early 4-2 lead that was capped off with a Makayla Sorenson (So., Lakewood, CA) kill.
But the Athenas weathered the storm and regained the lead. Redlands didn't go away quietly, however, responding with a quick two points to reclaim the lead at 6-5, after Davidson got a kill and the Athenas had a service error.
Trailing again by a point, the Bulldogs used a pair of kills from graduate student Angelina Hughes (Wildomar, CA) and Stradford to take a 9-7 lead. But the Athenas bounced back, taking a four-point lead at 19-15. The Bulldogs attempted one final comeback with a 3-0 run to close the gap to one, but, unfortunately, that was as close as UR would get, falling 25-18.
Starlin led all Bulldogs with seven kills and added two aces and two assists. Pittman had a team-high seven digs and five assists. Dawson had a team-high nine assists and chipped in three digs and a kill. Reagor and Stradford both added two assisted blocks, with Stradford recording a solo block as well.
The Bulldogs (2-8) have a quick turnaround with a home match-up with Chapman University on Saturday, October 2, at 2:00 p.m. inside Currier Gym.