By Ron Smith
August 21, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Both junior middle blocker Libby Dahlberg and right side hitter Samantha Neely produced a .500 attack percentage as #7 Westmont Volleyball (4-1) swept the Bobcats of UC Merced (0-1) on Monday afternoon in the Warriors' home opener. Westmont won by set scores of 25-18, 28-26, and 25-12.
 
Dahlberg tallied 12 kills in the match while Neely added 11. Freshman outside hitter Hali Galloway recorded nine kills and posted a .261 attack percentage.
 
"Samantha Neely has come out dominating her junior year," said Cook. "Today's game was really impressive. That is the kind of play we saw from her at the Hope International Tournament. I'm really excited to see what she does with this season. Her upperclassman leadership and her aggressive attacking is really being felt by the team.
 
"It was fun seeing Hali swing away," continued Cook. "She has a fun style of play that is going to be a joy to watch this season."
 
Up 7-6 in the first set, Westmont put together an 8-1 run that included two kills by freshman outside hitter Brooklynn Cheney (7 kills, 15 serve receptions, 14 digs), a combination block by Neely and Dahlberg and kills by Neely, Dahlberg and Galloway. The Warriors maintained at least a five-point advantage the rest of the set.
 
"I was really happy with the way that Brooklyn fluidly stepped into the game with Taylor (Beckman) out," said head coach Patti Cook. "She raised her level of play in the front row because she knew she was needed. The team relied on her and I was thrilled to see the way she rose to the challenge."
 
An unwelcome encounter with a pair of dogs at East Beach left Beckman unable to participate in today's game.
        
The second set was more closely contested. With the score tied at 17, the Bobcats won six of the next seven rallies to go up 22-18. A kill from Cheney made it 22-19, however, the Bobcats benefited from two Warrior errors to achieve set point at 24-19.
 
Westmont tied the score up by winning the next five points – two on kills by Dahlberg and three on Bobcat errors.
 
A kill from Merced's Rachel Shaefer gave the Bobcats their sixth set point but Shaefer was blocked by Neely and Dahlberg to conclude the next rally, making the score 25-all. 
 
Jade Fachin put the Bobcats in set-point position one more time with a kill, however Merced was never able to clinch the win. A Bobcat service error tied the game at 26 before Neely delivered a blow that gave Westmont its first set point at 27-26. It turned out to be the only one they would need as another Bobcat attack error gave the Warriors a two-set-to-none advantage.
 
"I was happy with the way my seniors stepped it up and demanded that we played better after we didn't play well in the second set," said Cook. "We should have never been in the situation, but the fact that we were in that position and got ourselves out of it showed a lot of maturity, a lot of will to win and a lot of composure. If we can continue to define our play with those words this season, we are going to have a great season."
 
In the final set, Westmont jumped out to a 9-1 lead and never looked back. Already up 12-6, the Warriors produced a 7-0 run to go on top 19-6, putting the outcome beyond doubt.
 
Junior setter Amy Buffham tallied 23 assists for the Warriors while freshman Camryn Kaina contributed another 17.
 
Senior libero Linday Paulo notched 12 digs and 12 serve receptions while freshman defensive specialist Lauren Friis added nine serve receptions and 11 digs.
 
In the match, the Warriors recorded an attack percentage of .304 while holding UC Merced to .051.
 
Next up for Westmont are three games at the La Sierra Tournament. On Thursday, Westmont will take on #16 Cornerstone of Michigan (4-0) at 3:00 p.m. before playing La Sierra (0-1) at 7:00 p.m. Friday, the Warrior will match up with Saint Katherine.