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Tigers Stop #25 Redlands
Story Courtesy of the Occidental Athletics Site
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Sept. 21, 2010) – In front of the biggest home crowd of the season, Occidental upset the nationally ranked and undefeated Bulldogs, in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Logan Boyer-Hayse and Stephanie Gann powered the Tigers past Redlands, who came into the match undefeated at 9-0 and #25 in the country, by hammering home 26 and 18 kills, respectively.
The Tigers played catch up for most of the night, as the Bulldogs would jump out to leads in all four sets, holding a two point lead for most of the opening set until the Black and Orange caught them at 17. Then back to back kills from Alyssa Mort and Meghan Fruth pushed the Tigers ahead by two and an unforced error by Redlands and a stuff block by Aly Fritz secured a 25-21 opening set win.
Set two started a little different as both teams traded points before Redlands pulled away, holding a 15-11 lead, when Oxy used its final timeout. The Tigers battled back to tie it at 19, but two backrow kills from Jackie Hamilton and another by Morgan Buckner stretched the lead back to three, and the Bulldogs held on for a 25-21 second set victory.
The Bulldogs came out on fire in the third, and for most of the set it looked as if the Tigers would be facing a 2-1 deficit going into the fourth, but then the Black and Orange defense began matching the intensity of the visiting squad and the set was tied again at 22. Madyson Cassidy recorded five of her match high 38 digs in the final three points, as Oxy outlasted Redlands for a 25-22 win.
In the final set, Redlands again held an 11-7 lead before the Tigers rallied, this time it was the play of Fruth, whose spike ricocheted high off a Redlands defender that swung the momentum to the home team. Boyer-Hayse had her best set of the match, recording 9 kills, even though she faced a triple block for most of this set. Oxy pulled away but then had to hold off a late push by the visiting squad for a 25-21 win.
Redlands (9-1, 0-1) was led by Jackie Hamilton, who tallied 14 kills and 17 digs, while Megan Phillips notched 13 kills and picked up 11 digs.
Oxy was led on the offensive end by Boyer-Hayse who recorded her match high 26 kills to go along with 24 digs, a career high for the sophomore. Gann had her best match in the Black and Orange with 18 kills and 4 stuff blocks. Mort came up big on the rightside with 9 kills and 7 stuff blocks. Fritz also played well at the net, recording 8 stuff blocks and hitting at a .455 kill efficiency.
The defense was once again led by Cassidy and Kathryn Bockmon, who picked up 28 and 16 digs respectively, but Clare Bolton and Jessie Altman also pitched in with 11 digs apiece.
Altman dished out a match and new career high 61 assists.
Oxy (8-1, 1-0) take their eight match win streak on the road for the first time this season as they travel to Pomona Pitzer (7-3, 1-0) on Friday night for a matchup of upset minded teams. The Sagehens traveled to La Verne tonight and knocked off the nationally recognized Leopards in five sets. First serve is scheduled for 7:30pm.
