Redlands, Calif. - The Redlands Volleyball team had back to back kills from Ashton Martin and Morgan Buckner to take a 16-14 win in game five and defeat Pomona-Pitzer 3-2 on Friday evening.

Game scores were 28-26, 21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 14-16. With the loss, Pomona-Pitzer slips to 9-14 overall and 4-11 in the SCIAC. Redlands, which lost in five games at Pomona-Pitzer earlier this season, improves to 8-14 overall and 3-12 in the SCIAC with the win.

Redlands rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force the match to a five-game maximum, then rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the fifth game. the turning point was a 4-0 run, started by two kills from Dodson that turned a 10-8 deficit into a 12-10 lead.  Pomona-Pitzer tied the score 12-12, but consecutive errors gave Redlands two match points. A kill from freshman Michelle Schultz (Chicago, Ill.) staved off the first one and an attack error by Redlands leveled the fifth game at 14-14, but Martin and Buckner had back-to-back kills for the dramatic finish.

The Sagehens closed out the first game with a 3-0 run, after taking a timeout down 26-25, to jump out to a 1-0 lead. A kill from sophomore setter Ellen Yamasaki (Salinas, Calif.) erased the deficit, and after an attack error by Redlands, sophomore Hannah Wayment-Steele (Flagstaff, Ariz.) finished off the game with a kill.

The second game saw the Sagehens dig themselves an early 11-4 hole. Sophomore Samantha Cahill (Vancouver, Wash.) had two kills in a 4-0 run to get the Sagehens back in it at 11-8. Redlands stretched the lead up to 21-11, before a 7-0 run on the serve of freshman Lindsay Burkart-Lima (Larkspur, Calif.) cut the lead to 21-18. Pomona-Pitzer got within two points twice at 22-20 and 23-21, but Sam Dodson had two late kills for Redlands to hold off the Sagehens for a 25-21 win.

The third game saw the Sagehens build up a 14-9 lead after a 3-0 run, capped off by a kill from sophomore Maria Weyhrauch (Juneau, Alaska - pictured). Redlands got as close as a single point at 20-19, but another kill from Weyhrauch (season-high seven kills) snapped the run, and the Sagehens finished off the game 25-20 on a kill from senior libero Lauren Kim (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.).

The fourth game came right down to the wire as an Ashton Martin kill at 24-23 gave Redlands the 25-23 win to force the match to a fifth and deciding game. Pomona-Pitzer led 21-20, but a 3-0 Redlands run gave them control and the Sagehens were unable to pull even. 

Schultz finished the day with a team-high 16 kills, Yamasaki added 13 and Cahill had 12. Sophomore setter Dani Kritter (Culpepper, Va.) had 43 assists, and Kim had 19 digs while junior Beth Smilkstein (Portland, Ore.) added 16.  Buckner had a match-high 21 kills and Dodson added 19 for Redlands.

Pomona-Pitzer will conclude its 2012 season tomorrow with a home match against Chapman at 6 p.m. It will be Senior Day for Kim, who is the lone senior on the Sagehens this fall.