Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College volleyball team led early but couldn't close as the University of Redlands left the Graham Athletics Center 3-0 winners on Friday evening in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action.
Whittier (8-20, 2-13 SCIAC) held a 20-15 advantage in Game 1 but was forced to play extra points after the Bulldogs (18-10, 6-7 SCIAC) battled back to even the score at 24. Redlands used a kill by Megan Phillips to win serve and took the first game on an attacking error by the Poets.
Redlands rode the momentum of its Game 1 comeback and got up early on Whittier in the second frame. The Bulldogs' lead reached as many as seven points at 18-11 before WC cut it to five at 20-15.
After Redlands' Jackie Hamilton recorded a kill, Lindsey Kish gave serve back to the Poets with a kill off a feed from Ashley Terich. The teams traded the next two points and Phillips put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with a kill for the win.
In the third and final game of the evening the Poets jumped out to early 4-1 lead and extended its advantage to 10-5 before Redlands was able to tie the match at 16-16. Whittier and Redlands went back-and-forth with no team gaining more than a two-point lead but the Bulldogs ended the night on a 3-0 run to clinch the match with a 25-22 Game 3 victory.
Kish put away seven kills for the Poets on 26 attempts while Alayna Rigo led the charge with 12 kills on 48 attempts.
Vanessa Amran and Terich split the setting duties on the night. Amran finished with a team-high 17 while Terich chipped in with 15. Alyssa Acosta had a match-high 35 digs, Kish recorded 16 and Jennifer Salas had 10 in the loss.
Shannon Orlins ended the night with a .500 attacking percentage. She finished 7-of-14 kills with no errors. In addition, she added a match-high three aces and had her hand in two blocks.
Rigo had two aces for the Poets while Kish and Terich each had one.
Whittier will wrap-up its season on Tuesday, November 2, as it travels to Los Angeles to face Occidental at 7:30 pm.
