By Ron Smith
September 22, 2017
 
(ROCKLIN, Calif.) Playing in front of a packed house at William Jessup (13-7, 0-4 GSAC), #5 Westmont (18-1, 4-0) collected a Golden State Athletic Conference sweep, winning by scores of 25-21, 25-9 and 25-18.
 
"I have to give credit to William Jessup," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "They played a scrappy game. They were picking up a lot of balls and we had to put some effort into putting the ball on the floor. However, our offense stayed very patient and our passing was good, so we were able to run a lot of different plays and find a lot of holes in the block. We got it done."
 
Right side hitter Samantha Neely led the way offensively for the Warriors, tallying a game-high 11 kills while posting a .474 attack percentage. Middle blocker Libby Dahlberg added eight kill while hitting .600 and notched five blocks – four of which were solos.
 
"Libby was a blocking machine tonight," said Cook. "She and Emma (Harrah) did a good job of closing the block off. Hali (Galloway) played well for us in the front row. Good things were happening for us when she hit something high and hard. Laruen (Friis) played good defense and was steady with our serve receive. Lindsay (Paulo) went on several good serving runs and was racking up points for us.
 
The first set was close until the score was tied at 13. Jessup went on a 3-0 run, which prompted Cook to call a time out.
 
"William Jessup's crowd was really loud," said Cook, "which was really nice. It took us back for about half of the first set. Then we talked about tuning all of that out and looking to each other. It's just volleyball, just like being at practice every day."
 
The Warriors emerged from the timeout and scored the next seven points to take a 20-16 lead. Galloway had two kills during the run and Cassidy Rea had one. Dahlberg contributed two blocks – one solo and won with Galloway.
 
After a single point by Jessup, Westmont tacked on three more on another kill by Rea and two more solo blocks by Dahlberg.
 
Jessup closed to within three points at 24-21, but a kill from Neely brought an end to the first frame.
 
In the second set, Westmont dominated and jumped out to a 14-3 lead. Jessup scored just once when they served. Like she did in the first set, Neely delivered the final blow of the second to put the Warriors up two sets to none.
 
The third set was more like the first. Westmont held a slim 16-14 lead when it went on a 7-1 run to take a 23-15 advantage. Harrah, Rea and Galloway each had a kill to help fuel the run that led to the Warriors' victory.
 
Tomorrow, Westmont will travel to Atherton to take on Menlo College. The Oaks upset The Master's tonight, winning in straight sets (25-15, 25-22, 25-23).
 
"It will be interesting to see what we find in Menlo," said Cook.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for two o'clock.