By Ron Smith
August 17, 2017
 
(FULLERTON, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (3-1) faced off against two top-10 teams on the second day of their season and came away with a pair of hard-fought victories. At noon, seventh-ranked Westmont squared off with ninth-ranked Corban of Ore. (1-3) in a match that went the distance. The Warriors prevailed 3-2 (25-18, 34-32, 24-26, 12-25, 15-13). Then at 6:00 p.m., Westmont went against #2 Dordt of Iowa (1-1) winning by a score of 3-1 (25-15, 25-19, 15-25, 26-24).
 
"Defeating two top-10 opponents shows how much talent and potential this team has," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "I am really proud of the way we played, even more so in the second match where we played a really steady game. What was most encouraging to me was that we continued to improve throughout the tournament. Our last match against Dordt was the most composed of the entire tournament."
 
The first match-up was filled with momentum shifts. Westmont produced an 8-0 run early in the opening set to take a 12-4 lead. After a service error by Corban, sophomore right side hitter Cassidy Rea delivered a trio of kills. Corban added to the Warrior run with three successive attack errors before senior middle blocker Emma Harrah capped the run with her first kill of the match. Westmont maintained at least a five-point advantage the rest of the set.
 
The marathon second set provided a much closer competition. Midway through, Corban, also nicknamed the "Warriors" held a 16-12 advantage. However, Westmont scored five of the next six points to tie the game at 17. Still tied at 21 points apiece, both teams battled to a tie at every point until 32-32.
 
A serve from Corban's Rachel Minturn was received by senior libero Lindsay Paulo. Paulo passed it to freshman setter Camryn Kaina who was just left of center. Kaina back set a high ball to the right side. Rea crushed the ball to the middle of the court through a gap between two would-be blockers, making the score 33-34.
 
Paulo went to the service line and sent the ball over the net for the first of 36 touches in the final rally. On the final sequence, Paulo dug an attack on the left side, sending the ball to the right sideline near the net. Kaina back set to Rea, this time putting the ball just past vertical. Rea delivered another thundering attack, tooling the block and giving Westmont a two-set-to-none advantage.
 
The third set was also close throughout. With Westmont down 19-22, Rea delivered kills on four of the next five points to tie the score at 23 all. A kill by Corban's Adriana Aguayo gave set point to the Oregon Warriors before Rea delivered again to tie the set at 24. Aguayo put Corban back on top with another kill before Amber Parker's kill gave Corban the set; making the match score, 2-1. A testament to the quality of play, the final 13 points of the third set were determined kills.
 
The wheels fell off the proverbial bus for the Warriors in the fourth set. Corban jumped out to a 18-5 lead and cruised to an easy win that tied the match at two games apiece. Westmont committed 11 hitting errors during the set and tallied just four kills.
 
That sent the match to a decisive fifth set with Westmont needing to regain some momentum. Unfortunately, the Montecito Warriors found themselves down 8-5 when the teams switched sides, but that is when the tide began to turn. Outside hitter Taylor Beckman recorded a kill and Rea and Harrah produced a block before freshman outside hitter Hali Galloway's kill tied the score at eight.
 
Corban responded with kills from Aguayo and Kasey Calderon before Rea and Dahlberg went back-to-back to make it a 10-10 game. Corban grabbed the next two points on a kill by Aguayo and a block by Aguayo and Marandah Boeder, giving Corban a 12-10 lead.
 
Dahlberg and Galloway fired back with a pair of kills to tie the game at 12 before Boeder responded in kind to put Corban up 13-12 in the set to 15 points.
 
The 26th rally of the set ended when Samantha Neely and Dahlberg closed the net with a block, tying the score at 13. Beckman then slammed home a kill to give Westmont match point and its first lead of the set since the first rally. The match finally ended on a Corban attack error that gave Westmont its second win of the young season.
                                                                
Rea lead the Warrior attack with 20 kills and a .432 attack percentage. Neely tallied 17 kills and an attack percentage of .261. Kaina notched 28 assists while Buffham added 27 assists and 13 digs. Paulo tallied 18 digs to lead the team.
 
"Our right sides took over the game in the first match," express Cook. They were on fire and unstoppable. Sam was hitting as well as I've ever seen her hit and Cassidy was a beast.
 
"Our setters (Buffham and Kaina) did a really nice job. They stayed steady and made some big plays in which they stayed consistent in their location even though they had to set on the move.
 
"Lindsay was doing a nice job at libero with steady play and bringing a calm composed attitude on the court. Emma did a great job in the middle, closing blocks and being an offensive threat. She was very quick on her attack with Camryn setting.
 
"Hali, swinging on the left side, was ripping balls. When the match was a little bit tight, she was staying aggressive with her attack. That is really encouraging to see. She went back to serve on match point in our first match and was steady, ripped a serve and showed no sign of freshman nerves."
 
In the evening match against Dordt, the Warriors started off well, taking the first four points that included a service ace by Buffham and two kills by Galloway. Still up 5-3, Westmont extended its lead with a five-point run. Dahlberg and Neely combined for a block, Harrah recorded a kill, Beckman went back-to-back and Neely notched a kill. Westmont remained in control the rest of the set.
 
The second set was closer, but Westmont never trailed. Leading 7-6, the Warriors reeled off another five-point run to take control. Rea hit two in a row and Galloway notched another kill in the run. Dordt would pull to within two, but Westmont kept the Defenders at bay to go up two sets to none.
 
Dordt put together a five-point run of their own in the third set to go up 7-2. Westmont was not able to find its offensive rhythm in third set, only winning three points on their own serves.
 
The fourth set saw two talented and determined teams battle it out to the very end. Westmont jumped out to a 5-1 lead and eventually went up 15-9 on a kill by Harrah. However, Dordt roared back, scoring seven of the next eight points to tie the match at 16 apiece.
 
Beckman and Dordt's Julia Lindbergh traded kills to make the score 17-all before a pair of Defender errors and a kill by Dahlberg put the Warriors on top 20-17. Dordt responded again, however, scoring on a kill from Ally Krommendyk, a block by Krommendyk and Ema Altena, and a kill by Jamie Gesink to knot the score up at 20.
 
After a kill by Rea, Dordt scored twice on a kill by Gesink and a Warrior attack error to take their first lead of the set 22-21. Westmont scored the next two points on a kill by Neely and a service ace by Galloway. Altena then tied the score at 23 with another kill.
 
Paulo recorded a Westmont kill to give the Warriors match point (24-23), but Altena struck again to help the Defenders draw even at 24. The final two points went to the Warriors, both the result of Defender attack errors.
 
Four Warriors recorded double-digit kills in the match led by Neely with 13 (.300 attack percentage). Rea tallied 12 and notched a .355 attack percentage. Outside hitters Galloway and Beckman (.313 attack percentage) each contributed 11 kills. Beckman and Paulo each produced 20 digs. Buffham tallied 28 assists and Kaina had 25.
 
The Warriors will host their home opener on Monday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. when they welcome the Bobcats of UC Merced (0-0) to Murchison Gymnasium.