LA VERNE, Calif. — The University of La Verne volleyball team hit a scorching .379 to sweep Redlands, 25-19, 25-11, 25-21, on Saturday night at Sports Science and Athletic Pavilion.
La Verne improves to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in SCIAC play. Redlands falls to 8-2 and 1-1.
Delaney Lynch had one of the most efficient hitting nights of her career, knocking down match-high 13 kills on 25 swings to lead the Leopards' attack.
Cassie Thompson was deadly for the second night in a row. She registered nine kills on 16 attempts without an error. Thompson is hitting an incredible .523 in her last three matches (24 kills, 1 error, 44 attempts) and .406 on the season.
The Leopards combined their hot hitting with a stingy defense to grab control early and never looked back.
Redlands had come into the match with a four-game winning streak and matched the Leopards' offense early in the first set. But Lynch and Cherene Uale led a 7-2 run with two kills apiece to give the Leopards a 17-11 lead.
The second set was never close. The Leopards put together four separate 4-0 runs and put down 13 kills on just 23 attempts.
The Bulldogs put together the best set of the match in the final set. Aided by four kills from Sofia Olsson, Redlands got out do a 17-14 lead in the third but just couldn't contain La Verne's high-octane offense for an entire set. Uale registered a kill, Natalie Barragan served up an ace and Thompson knocked on down to lead a 4-0 run that saw the Leopards take a 21-19 run and the La Verne held on.
Tiffany Mancuso dished out 34 assists. Kelsi Robinson had seven kills, six digs and two solo blocks.
The Leopards are back in action on Tuesday at Chapman.