(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It was a quick show tonight in Murchison Gymnasium as #3 Concordia took down Westmont in a three game match (25-18, 25-20, 25-19).
Concordia came out swinging in game one, fighting hard and consistently putting the ball on the ground. With 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .314, they offense was a force to be reckoned with. Going against a strong offense put the Warrior's off balance throughout the first game. They struggled with digging playable balls, so their offense had to resort to using off speed shots and tips to earn points. While this was effective for a while, the Warriors did not put enough power behind the ball to continually earn the points that they needed. The Eagles handily won game one 25-18.
"What it came down to was that their arms, their heavy hitters, their heavyweight champions beat out our heavy weight champions when it came to offense. Our passing was not as on point as we needed it to be in to be against their solid block. They played scrappy defense and are an all-around great team," debriefed head coach Patti Cook after the match.
Game two came with a lot more excitement—from both the team and the crowded gym. Westmont's outside hitters started terminating the ball more and their defense was scrappy. The Warriors started making the power plays that had lacked in the first set. Offensively, they started to involve their middle blockers who were able to put the ball down. Defensively, they kept the ball in play more than they were previously able. With electric energy from the bench and encouragement from the crowd, the Warriors were able to stay within a couple of points of the Eagles the whole set. But once again, the consistent play from the Eagles kept them in the lead and they were ultimately able to come out with a 25-20 win.
"We didn't play to the level we had been practicing at this week. I addressed that to the girls and told them to stop trying to play outside of themselves. I said if you play the way we play day in and day out in practice you'll be fine, but it just wasn't out night" explained Cook.
In the third and final set of the match, the Warriors were simply not able to respond to the consistency of the Eagles. Westmont dropped the final set 25-18 to give Concordia their second win in GSAC.
"The team was frustrated afterward because they came in fired up. They were disappointed not only in the loss, but a loss in three– not even taking a game off Concordia. We have much higher expectations for our team than what we did tonight. We know what we need to work on this coming week and we are always looking forward," Cook closed out.
The Warriors are now 6-7 overall and 0-1 in GSAC. Their next match will be at home this Friday at 7PM as they take on San Diego Christian.
