By Ron Smith
October 22, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Libby Dahlberg pounded 16 kills and produced a .500 attack percentage as #7 Westmont Volleyball (26-3) ran its Golden State Athletic Conference record to 10-0 with a four-set win over Hope International (14-7, 6-4). Set scores were 25-11, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20.
 
Up six to eight in the first set, Westmont scored the next seven points behind the serving of Lindsay Paulo. Dahlberg and Cassidy Rea contributed two kills each during the run with Emma Harrah and Hali Galloway notching a single kill each. The Royals would get no closer than seven points the rest of the set.
 
In the second set, Westmont held an 11-9 advantage when it went on a 10-3 run to take control of the set. Dahlberg accounted for three kills during that stretch while Galloway, Samantha Neely and Taylor Beckman added one each. Neely was also a part of two blocks, one with Dahlberg and one with Harrah.
 
"We started out very strong," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "It was great to see us bounce back after a tough win against Vanguard. I was interested to see you we were going to respond to a tough Hope team that had beaten Vanguard. I was proud of the way we started."
 
Midway through the third set, the Royals flipped the script. With Westmont ahead 10-6, Hope put together a 9-1 run to go up 15-11. The Warriors were able to pull within one point twice, but the Royals kept Westmont at bay to claim the third set.
 
"In game three, it seemed to me like it was a bit of a lack of focus and urgency," assessed Cook. "We were missing a lot of blocks. They were coming in and starting to hammer us. We weren't as disciplined on our block as we needed to be."
 
Westmont wasted no time setting things to right, jumping out to a 9-1 lead in the fourth set on their way to a 25-20 win to finish off the match.
 
Next week the Warriors will take to the road. In a change of schedule, the Warriors will first travel to Phoenix to take on the Firestorm at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Then the Warriors will continue on to San Diego for a 7:30 p.m. match against San Diego Christian and the Santee Boys and Girls Club.