PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech volleyball team faced off against the the University of Redlands Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in a home matchup at Braun Gymnasium. The Beavers fought closely with two high-scoring sets and nice performances from sophomore outside hitter Alize Baker (Portland, Ore. / Westview), first-year outside hitter/opposite Andrea Li (Calgary, Alb. / Sir Winston Churchill) and first-year middle blocker/outside hitter Noelle Wilkinson (Bentonville, Ark. / Thaden School).

The first set of the match was a constant back and forth with neither team able to create much breathing room. Bakker got her first kill early tying the set at 3-3 before logging four more kills throughout the set in a seven-kill day. The sophomore posted 14 digs, good for second most on the team. The Bulldogs went up 16-11 for their biggest lead of the set but the Beavers persisted bringing the set within two points before Redlands squeaked out the set victory.

The Beavers once again battled hard in a second set that came down to the wire where Li made her presence felt with six kills. Much like the first set, the teams went back and forth with the biggest cushion being Redlands going up 20-14 before Caltech scored five of the next six points. A few minutes later the Beavers found themselves against set-point down 24-20, though the team connected for two straight kills and forced an attack error to stay alive, the first of which came from Li who finished with seven kills and was followed by first-year setter/opposite Alisa Shen (Calgary, Alb. / Western Canada HS) who had six kills in the match.

The team continued to fight in the third set keeping it close early with kills from Bakker and outside hitter/opposite first-year Brittany Rosario (San Juan, PR / Saun Juan Math, Science and Tech Center) who recorded five kills on the day. Redlands pulled away but the Beavers did not stop fighting, coming up with some impressive rallies and successful attacks.

Head coach Tom Gardner and the squad will hit the road for their next contest as they take on the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Follow the action online at GoCaltech.com/coverage.