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Leopards Take Down Bulldogs
In yet another epic contest between the University of La Verne and the University of Redlands, the Leopards outlasted the Bulldogs in five sets by scores of 25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 23-25, 15-12 to advance to Saturday's NCAA West Region Championship.
La Verne (23-13) will face Colorado College (34-4) in Saturday's championship match at Currier Gym in Redlands. The top seeded Tigers defeated California Lutheran 3-2 in the Friday's first semifinal matchup.
The Leopards won the first two sets only to watch Redlands storm back to claim sets three and four to set up a decisive fifth frame. Once there, the Leos led 8-4, then trailed 12-10 before reeling off the last five points to earn victory.
The Leopards hit .276 in the final frame while limiting the Bulldogs to a .097 percentage.
On a Friday the 13th, the Leopards were finally able to exorcise the demons of a fifth set. La Verne had not won a five-setter since Sept. 12 when it defeated UC Santa Cruz 3-2. The Leos had dropped their previous five matches that went the distance.
The match opened with Redlands taking an early 9-5 lead before the Leos settled in and used a 6-2 run to tie the match at 11-11. The two teams battled back and forth until the Leopards took the lead for good at 18-17 on a stuff block from freshman setter Kendall Kraiss. La Verne would win the next three points to go up 21-17, eventually winning 25-21.
The second set was dominated by the Leopards, who jumped out to a commanding 18-8 advantage and cruised to a 2-0 set lead. The Leos hit .311 for the set and held the Bulldogs to a .102 hitting percentage.
Redlands stormed back in the third set, using a 5-1 run to take a 16-12 lead en route to a 25-21 set win.
The Bulldogs continued their attack and raced out to a 9-3 lead. La Verne closed the gap to three points, and eventually within a point at 23-22. The two teams traded points before the Bulldogs finished off the set with a Leopards' hitting error.
With the score tied at 12-12 in the fifth, Jones delivered a kill to put the Leos up by one. A Bulldog hitting error gave the Leos a match point at 14-12, then it ended on a block from Ashley Morgado that gave La Verne the match at 15-12 and a spot in the region championship match.
The victory avenges La Verne's five-set defeat to the Bulldogs on the very same floor six nights earlier in the SCIAC Postseason Final.
Crista Jones paced the Leopards with a match-high 29 kills while hitting .338 on the night. Anna Calmer collected 14 kills while Randi Toomay and Catie Logan each totaled 8 kills. Logan hit .412 while Kraiss hit .333 with 6 kills. Kraiss also recorded 31 assists, while Chelsea Sleight totaled 40 digs tying for match-high honors.
Jackie Hamilton posted 24 kills in the loss for the Bulldogs. Lauren Harding collected a match-high 40 digs. Redlands ends its season at 23-6.
With the win the Leos advance to their seventh West Region final in 10 seasons. La Verne has claimed five region titles during that span.
Match time for Saturday's championship match is scheduled for 7 pm.
