Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
By
Ron Smith
With a freshly minted #16 preseason ranking, Westmont Volleyball opened the season a pair of wins at the Biola Summer Slam. The now 2-0 Warriors posted a 25-21, 25-14, 25-19 sweep over #8 Eastern Oregon before clamming a 25-17, 25-17, 25-20 win over Great Falls (Mont.).
Against Eastern Oregon (1-1), Taylor Beckman and Libby Dahlberg led the way, producing 12 and 11 kills respectively. Dahlberg added a solo block and three block assists to help shut down the Mountaineers, limiting Eastern Oregon to a .132 team attack percentage. Westmont tallied a .281 attack percentage.
In the first set, Westmont jumped out to a 4-0 lead courtesy of kills from Emma Harrah (6 kills), Dahlberg and Samantha Neely (9 kills). The Mountaineers closed to within one point (7-6) on a Westmont error, but the Warriors took control of the game by scoring on nine of the next 12 serves.
The second set started out more closely contested. Leading 6-5, the Warriors reeled off a 10-1 run. Neely and Beckman each had three kills during that stretch with Jessica McCann (4 kills) and Dahlberg adding one each.
In the third set, Eastern Oregon held a 14-11 lead before a pair of kills by Neely, a service ace by libero Kami Troesh (24 digs) and a kill by Dahlberg gave Westmont a 15-14 advantage. A kill by the Mountaineers' Makayla Lindberg tied the match.
However, Westmont responded with a kill by Dahlberg, a service ace and a kill by setter Alexa Nestlerode (16 assists) and a kill by Cassidy Rea (7 kills) to take a 19-15 advantage. It proved to be a deficit that Mountaineers could not overcome.
McCann and Beckman tallied 10 kills each for Westmont in the sweep of Great Falls (0-2). McCann posted an attack percentage of .500, committing just one error in 18 attempts. Dahlberg added nine kills and five blocks. As a team, the Warriors out hit the Argonauts by 200 percentage points (.282 to .082). Westmont tallied nine blocks over the three sets.
Up 18-15 in the first set, a pair of kills by Beckman were sandwiched around one by Dahlberg and top with an ace by Troesh (10 digs) to give the Warriors a 22-15 advantage. Westmont would give back two points before closing out the set on a service error by Great Falls, a block by Dahlberg and Rea (4 kills) and a service ace by Nestlerode (16 assists).
In the second set, Westmont held a 15-14 lead before putting together a 10-3 run to claim a two-set-to-none lead. McCann produced three kills during that span. Dahlberg, Harrah and Beckman added a kill each. Dahlberg and McCann combined for one block and Harrah and McCann combined for another.
In the third set, Westmont rallied from a 13-10 deficit by scoring 11 of the next 10 points. Beckman notched two kills during the run while Rea and Dahlberg added one each. Dahlberg and Neely went up for a block before Dahlberg closed down the net by herself with a solo block.
The two teams would play even the rest of the way with a kill by Dahlberg ending the match in favor of the Warriors.
Westmont will continue play in the Biola Summer Slam tomorrow morning. At eight o'clock, Westmont will take on Montana Tech (2-0). The Orediggers posted a 3-0 win over The Master's today before defeating #18 Southern Oregon 3-1.
At noon, Westmont and #11 College of Idaho (1-1) will face off on opposite sides of the net. The Yotes, fell to The Master's 3-1 this morning and then beat #4 Viterbo (Wis.) 3-2 this afternoon.
