While still developing under the new systems of second-year Head Coach Mari Burningham, the University of Redlands women’s volleyball team battled throughout their challenging season, finishing fifth in a very competitive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).  With two conference teams breaking into the nation’s top-25 poll, the Bulldogs matched up against high-caliber opponents in every aspect of their schedule.  Despite several tough losses, Redlands worked to establish a foundation that is dedicated to the principles of simple defense and overall excellence.

Redlands began its season by traveling to Irvine to compete against some of the best NAIA schools in the country at the Labor Day Crowne Plaza Invitational at Concordia University.  After falling to nationally-ranked opponents Fresno Pacific University and Point Loma Nazarene University, along with competitive Westmont College, the Bulldogs faced The Master’s College in the final match of the weekend.  In a five-game marathon match, Redlands narrowly fell to the Mustangs in a heartbreaking thriller, 14-16, in the decisive game.  Junior outside hitter Shelley Langford (Newport Beach, CA) led the way with a match-high 16 kills while sophomore outside hitter Lori Nakamura (Kahala, HI) backed her with 14.

Coming off a tough preseason schedule, the Bulldogs opened conference action with a 3-0 sweep over Caltech.  Nakamura knocked down a match-high 16 kills while sophomore Cassie McEuen (Mountain View, CA) and junior Lizzy Ford (Ballard, WA) led the team with .571 hitting percentages.  After the dominating performance over the Beavers, Redlands faced always-challenging Colorado College and nearby-rival Chapman University in two non-conference matches.  Despite falling to both teams, Redlands showed promise with Langford’s season-high 22 kills against the Panthers, for the tenth-best single match showing in Redlands’ history.

The Bulldogs quickly rebounded with a resounding win over Occidental College to improve to 2-0 in SCIAC.  The team continued to compete well as junior libero Rachaé Bell (Davenport, WA) tied a school record with her 50 digs against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the team’s tough 2-3 loss to the Sagehens.  Led by Bell’s defensive efforts, the Bulldogs earned their third conference sweep of the season with a victory over Whittier College.  The Bulldogs continued to grow as they took games from nationally-ranked conference foes Cal Lutheran University and the University of La Verne in back-to-back matches. 

Redlands closed out the final six conference contests of the season by sweeping three teams and taking another game from Cal Lu.  In the Bulldogs’ second win over Caltech, Langford tied the school record for aces in a single match with nine. Despite coming up short in the final match of the year, the Bulldogs showed great heart and desire in their attempt to come from two games down in the five-game heartbreaker at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. 

The team’s win-loss record inadequately describes the successes of the Bulldogs’ overall growth and commitment to excellence.  Bell finished the season first in the nation with 8.13 digs per game en route to becoming the first Bulldog since 1977 to earn American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America honors with her Third Team accolades.  She also became the first Bulldog ever to receive AVCA All-West Region honors, along with her second-straight First Team All-SCIAC honors.  In conference matches, she tallied 433 digs, which was 205 more than her closest competitor, and averaged 8.66 digs per game.  On the year, she supplied a school-record 651 digs, which brought her three-year total to an all-time Redlands best of 1228.  She more than shattered both of these records as the previous marks were 398 and 970, respectively.

Nakamura earned the inaugural All-SCIAC honors of her career with her Second Team accolades.  Competing in 78 out of 80 games, she tallied 1001 total attempts as the Bulldogs’ go-to hitter.  She led the team with 264 kills, which ranked second among conference players, and 3.38 kills per game.  Along with her potent attack, Nakamura also finished second on the team with 35 service aces and 211 digs.

In the final home match of the year, the Bulldogs wished the best to senior setter Diana Lautenberger (San Francisco, CA) and senior middle blocker Sara Monahan (Des Moines, WA).  Lautenberger capped off her four-year career at the #5 spot on the Bulldogs’ all-time list with 717 assists, while ranking seventh with 56 career service aces.  Monahan also enjoyed a successful four-year career with a ninth-best total of 139 career blocks.  She led the team in all blocking categories this season with 15 solo blocks and 35 block assists for a total of 50 while also tallying a team-best hitting percentage of .234. 

Redlands also enjoyed a tremendous amount of production from juniors Jessica Walker (Redlands, CA), Ford and Langford.  Walker capitalized on her second season with the Bulldogs by tallying a team-high 485 assists.  She also rattled off 32 service aces, including a third-best all-time single match performance of seven against Caltech.  Langford finished her third season with a team-high 304.5 total points and a second-best 243 kills.  The Bulldogs also saw an increase in production in Ford. She tallied a third-best total of 128 kills on the right-side to go along with career-highs in blocks (36), digs (84) and assists (28).

Sophomore Emily Klarer (El Cajon, CA) also provided a greater role this season as she racked up career-highs with 117 kills, 39 digs and 34 blocks.  She also accumulated the second-best hitting percentage on the team with a mark of .227.  McEuen saw time on both antennas as a hitter and defender, racking up 44 kills while freshman Dory Baga (Honolulu, HI) helped solidify the Bulldog defense with 66 digs.  Freshman Lacee Gentry (Albuquerque, NM) eagerly filled in for an injured teammate in a position she had never played during the crucial final points of Redlands’ win at Whittier College.

Despite the loss of two contributing senior leaders, the Bulldogs welcome back an experienced and talented group of players next season in hopes of continuing an upward climb through the conference.  Redlands volleyball strives to reach its goals through Burningham’s coaching leadership, commitment to defense and overall excellence.