PASADENA, Calif. (Sep. 24, 2021) – Caltech volleyball opened SCIAC competition with a comprehensive sweep of the University of Redlands on Friday night.

The 3-0 victory marked Caltech's first sweep of a SCIAC opponent in program history. The Beavers coincidentally notched their first-ever SCIAC win over Redlands back in 2017.

With the majority of campus still just returning over orientation week and with school commencing this Monday, the Beavers made the most of playing in front of their most significant crowd of the season as they jumped out to a strong 8-3 lead amid raucous cheers. The SCIAC foes battled furiously for seemingly every point over the opening set, with diving saves, clever attacks and unconventional quick-twitch digs at the net the norm right from the start. The Beavers offense started the match with an impressive .368 hitting percentage over the opening frame before improving to a season-high .484 in the second set.

The Bulldogs closed the early gap to two thanks to a 6-2 run at 14-12, but would get no closer as Caltech kept pace with the visitors for the remainder of the set in a 25-22 victory. The second set began with much cagier play from both sides as neither was able to separate over the first 12 points before the Beavers again rode the crowd's momentum to a 9-6 advantage on back-to-back emphatic kills by senior Alison Noyes (Falmouth, Maine / Falmouth). Caltech stretched the margin to six at 16-10 on another series of big kills and put the set away with some gritty play for the 25-18 win.

The potentially decisive third set opened with some cautious play from both sides as Redlands suffered from a pair of attacking errors in the first three points. The teams traded points almost straight through the entire set, with the Bulldogs answering a brief Caltech streak with only their second lead of the night at 15-13 following an 8-2 run fueled by four attacking errors and a pair of aces.

Caltech dug deep to show its resilience in that moment, battling back to 21-21 and then putting a stamp on a largely dominant performance with the final four points of the night. Senior Sydney Richardson (Granite Bay, Calif. / Roseville) sent the Bulldogs packing with kills on both the last two points.

Junior Dallas Taylor (Phoenix, Ariz. / Saguaro) hit a jaw-dropping .476 for 11 kills, adding two block assists for 12 individual points in the match. Her middle blocking counterpart Noyes added nine kills on a .467 percentage with a pair of block assists for 11 points. 

Sophomore setter Halle Blend (Farmers Branch, Texas / Hockaday) fed the Caltech attackers for 33 assists and recorded her fifth double-double while Richardson smacked 10 kills in her two sets played, locking on target for a whopping .500 hitting percentage. Senior Isabel Yang (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) played exceptionally as well with eight kills on a .368 hitting percentage, 12 digs and three assists.

Caltech (6-3 overall, 1-0 SCIAC) sits atop the conference ladder alongside national No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (2-0) and California Lutheran University (2-0) with unblemished match sweeps. The Beavers also opened their 2019 SCIAC campaign with a win en route to a program-record four conference victories.

Head Coach Tom Gardner and the Beavers will look to extend their three-match win streak on Saturday at Occidental College.