By Ron Smith
September 15, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Senior outside hitter Taylor Beckman made her return to the court on Friday night at Murchison Gymnasium and helped lead #5 Westmont (15-1, 2-0 GSAC) to a three-game sweep (25-13, 25-17, 25-12) of San Diego Christian (5-6, 0-2). Beckman tallied a team-high 11 kills while producing a .346 attack percentage.
 
"Taylor is a very steady presence with her passing and with her defense," noted head coach Patti Cook. "She also has a senior mentality of staying tough when things start to get a little crazy. She has a way of bringing people's focus back to where it should be."
 
Beckman was unable to play for nearly a month after an unwelcome encounter with two dogs at Santa Barbara's East Beach left her with an injury.
 
Junior middle blocker Libby Dahlberg and junior right side hitter Samantha Neely each tallied 10 kills with Dahlberg hitting .667 and Neely connecting at a .381 clip.
 
As a team, Westmont posted a .429 attack percentage – the seventh best mark in Westmont history.
 
The Warriors used a 10-0 run in the first set to take a commanding 11-2 lead. With freshman libero Lauren Friis serving during the run, Westmont notched two kills each from Neely and Beckman and one from Dahlberg and senior middle blocker Emma Harrah. Beckman also recorded a solo block.
 
The Hawks would climb to within five points to make the score 12-7, but Westmont scored the next seven in a row to put the set out of reach. Harrah and sophomore right side hitter Cassidy Rea tallied two kills each with freshman outside hitter Brooklynn Cheney adding another.
 
"We were making the little things look easy tonight," said Cook. "The flow of the game seemed really smooth. We are starting to get into a rhythm and get really comfortable and confident playing for each other."
 
In the second set, Westmont held an 11-9 lead when a quartet of Warrior kills put Westmont up 15-9. Two of the kills came from Beckman and one each from Neely and Dahlberg. Up 22-17, Westmont closed out the set with a kill from Beckman and Dahlberg that was followed by a Hawks' setting error.
 
Westmont took control of the final set early, jumping out to a 15-5 lead and never looking back. The final point of the match came on a kill from Neely.
 
Junior setter Amy Buffham recorded 25 assists on the night while freshman Camryn Kaina added 19.
 
"I commended the setters after the game," said Cook. "I thought they set a really nice offense. They were making good decisions and their set locations were spot on tonight."
 
Beckman and Cheney led the Warriors in passing with 13 and 12 serve receptions respectively. Cheney added 14 digs while Friis produced 16.
 
"In the women's game, passing and serving is really important," said Cook. "We were passing absolute nails tonight. That was keeping our setters and hitters in rhythm. When our offense is in rhythm, it's very hard to stop.
 
"Our hitters stayed persistent. When they got stopped in one place, they went to another. Having good passing, good sets and the depth of (hitting) range was really nice."
 
The Warriors will have a quick turnaround tomorrow when they host Arizona Christian (9-4, 1-1) at 2:00 p.m. The Firestorm lost to The Master's this evening in five sets (25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-10).
 
In other Golden State Athletic Conference action, Vanguard defeated William Jessup 3-1 (25-14, 25-20, 25-27, 25-22) and Hope International defeated Menlo by the same margin (22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-18).
 
After just two conference games, Westmont and Vanguard lead the pack with records of 2-0. Menlo, Arizona Christian, Hope International and The Master's are a game back with 1-1 records. William Jessup and San Diego Christian are looking for their first conference wins.