Owls Edged by Redlands in Five-Set Duel

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Bridgette McAndrews (Longmeadow, Mass.) posted a game-high 14 kills, but the Owls dropped a five-set thriller (25-21, 22-25, 25-13, 23-25, 15-17) against the University of Redlands, California on Friday night from the Bonnie May Invitational in Smith, Mass.

The Owls used a five-point scoring burst in the middle of the first set to open up a seven-point lead with Michaela O'Connor (Shrewsbury, Mass.) providing two aces in during the spurt. Westfield maintained the lead of the remainder of the set, taking the first set 25-21.

In set number two, the Owls built up a 20-16 lead in the closing stages of the frame after McAndrews and O'Connor supplied a pair of kills for Westfield. However, Redlands (2-0) found a rhythm within the service game of Isabella Garey (Alexandra, Va.), scoring the next seven points, four of which ending on a Paige Sugg (Federal Way, Wash.) kill. With the Bulldogs leading by two points, a Westfield attack error secured the set win for Redlands, evening the game at one apiece.

The Owls dominated the third set, scoring eight of the first 11 points to eventually cruise to a 12-point set win.

A back-and-forth fourth set swayed in favor of the Bulldogs with Redlands tacking on their final two points of the set on Owls' attacking errors.

With the game tied 13-13 in the final set, a Redlands service error put the Owls at match point. Lilia Donaldson (Boulder, Colo.) saved the game for the Bulldogs with a kill to even the set at 14, but McAndrews once again gave Westfield an opportunity to close out the game with a kill of her own.

Redlands once again had an answer, this time coming on the attack from Avery Aminoff (Alexandria, Va.) who recorded a kill to knot the game up at 15. The Bulldogs would ultimately score the next two points, ending the tightly contested match.

McAndrews led the Owls in kills (14) and digs (24) while O'Connor racked up 11 kills and 14 digs. Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass.) led the team with 15 assists. Allie Hill (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) chipped in 18 digs. Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) registered a game-high five total blocks.

Sugg paced the Bulldogs with 11 kills while Aminoff and Kiki Stradford (Mission Viejo, Calif.) compiled ten kills each. Ella Goettsche (Estvale, Calif.) amassed 28 assists with Lali Makaiwi (Las Vegas, Nev.) led all players with 25 digs.

Westfield State (0-5) will continue action at the Bonnie May Invitational tomorrow with a pair of games against Smith College (11:00 A.M.) and Western New England (2:00 P.M.).