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A thrilling SCIAC Tournament Final went to the University of Redlands, who held off the University of La Verne in a classic five-set contest by scores of 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 17-25 and 17-15 at Currier Gymnasium in Redlands.

The fifth set saw La Verne take an early 8-6 advantage, but Redlands bounced back to tie at 8-8, then later go up 11-9.  The two teams split the next six points with the Bulldogs holding two set points at 14-12.  But Redlands committed a serving error followed by an attack error to put the Leopards back into a tie at 14-14.  Redlands claimed another match point but the Leopards countered to notch the contest at 15-15.  A kill by Jackie Hamilton on the enusing play put the Bulldogs up 16-15.  A Leopard attack error followed to propel the Bulldogs to the first-ever SCIAC Tournament championship.

La Verne forced a deciding set by hitting .209 in the fourth stanza while limiting the Bulldogs to a .089 percentage.  The Leopards seized control midway through the set by taking leads of 17-12 and 22-15.  A kill by Crista Jones at 24-17 knotted the contest at 2-2.

The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead after rallying from a 22-18 deficit in the third set.  Trailing by four, Redlands won the next three points to cut the margin to 22-21.  La Verne led 23-21 but lost the next three points, giving the Bulldogs a set point at 24-23. The Leopards reclaimed the lead at 25-24, but Redlands would take the next three points to win the set.  Ali Massei earned the final two points with a kill followed by a service ace.

Redlands earned a first-set win in similar fashion by claiming the final two points after the score was tied at 23-23.  Hamilton earned a kill to put Redlands up 24-23, and won the next point on a block to lead 1-0.

The Leopards built a 16-11 lead in the second set and never looked back to even the match at a set apiece.  La Verne enjoyed its biggest lead at 21-14 before earning a 25-19 triumph.

Redlands posted 123 digs on the night compared to 109 for the Leos.  The Bulldogs totaled 14 blocks while the Leopards collected 12.5. 

Jones posted a match-high 28 kills in the defeat, hitting .268 overall for the match.  Anna Calmer and Randi Toomay each collected 11 kills.  The Bulldogs enjoyed balance with four players recording at least 10 kills.  Massei led the Dawgs with 16 followed by Hamilton with 15.  Megan Phillips and Kirby McCord each registered 11 kills in the win.  Lauren Harding registered a match-high 38 digs.

La Verne fell short in attempting to win its first five-setter in nearly two months.  The Leos' last win in five occurred Sept. 12 against UC Santa Cruz.

Redlands (22-5) avenged a 3-1 defeat to the Leopards four nights earlier and secures the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  La Verne (21-13) will have to await to see if it heads to a 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament.