By Ron Smith
October 12, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Junior right side hitter Cassidy Rea tallied 12 kills and posted a .600 attack percentage as #17 Westmont Volleyball (18-4, 9-3 GSAC) recorded a decisive win over #11 The Master's (22-4, 11-1) in front of a boisterous crowd. The Warriors won by scores of 25-21, 25-17 and 25-16.
 
"The crowd made such a huge impact on our energy and our focus," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "They brought a ton of energy. I was thrilled to see the Westmont community come around us and support us in such a big way. It had a huge impact on the win tonight.
 
"We were ready for the game, we stayed aggressive and we finished strong," said Cook of her team. "I am so proud of the overall team effort both on serve receive and on defense. I thought our block was really good tonight. We were closing a lot of holes, getting our hands on a lot of balls and, in general, making it easier for our transition game."

The Warriors hit .283 as a team while holding the Mustangs to .066.
 
"When we played them before, we had trouble stopping their offense," acknowledge Cook. "Tonight, we looked like a completely different team. We have grown a lot. We've gone through a few bumps and challenges since we played them last and I think those challenges have forced us to grow and to adapt. We played really strong volleyball tonight.
 
"One of our goals was to be aware of where they wanted to set at any given time. We didn't leave them with an open net. Whenever they did have a big gap or we only had one blocker up, our defense was digging up a ton of balls. Lauren Friis was her usual gritty self and Brooklynn Cheney's passing tonight was really on point and crucial to the win."
 
Friis recorded a team-high 26 digs for the Warriors and notched 20 serve receptions while Cheney notched 11 serve receptions and 10 digs. Madison Morrison contributed 13 serve receptions and seven digs.
 
"Cassidy was incredible, having 12 kills and zero errors," praised Cook. "It's not like she had an open net the entire night. She had a block on her, they knew where she was trying to go and she still was able to put it away."
 
Senior middle blocker Samantha Neely notched 11 kills while hitting .333. She also had four block assists. Sophomore outside hitter Brooklynn Cheney added another nine kills to the Warrior totals and also hit .333.
 
"Brooklynn was dominate tonight as a hitter," offered Cook. "She has really good vision and has started to trust that vision. She can use her wrist to snap down the line or to hit into the angle. She keeps blockers guessing."
 
Senior setter Amy Buffham ran the Warriors' offense and recorded 35 assists.
 
"Amy was incredible and was making good decisions," said Cook. "She made good decisions about when to dump, when to back set, when to get it to the middle or the outside and when to get it to the back row."
 
"Offensively, we didn't keep trying to do the same thing over and over. We adapted to their block and their defense and we changed up the pace of our hits. That is what good hitters need to do against a good team. Master's is a strong team with a really strong block.
 
"A lot of that has to do with the players pushing themselves in practice to get out of their comfort zone. In practice they worked on going against a double block and having to use their vision. We worked on that specifically in practice this week and they translated that into the game very well."
 
Westmont never trailed in any of the three sets. The Mustangs rallied from a three-point deficit to tie the game at 11 in the second set, but Westmont reeled off the next eight point in a row to take control. The run included kills by Rea, Cheney and Neely and a pair of service aces by Friis.
 
With Westmont leading 12-11 in the third set, the Warriors scored the next five points, including two kills by Rea.
 
Westmont will not compete again until next Friday night when they travel to Costa Mesa to take on #15 Vanguard (19-4, 6-3 GSAC). The Warriors currently have a one-game lead over the Lions.