By Ron Smith
October 2, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (14-4, 5-3 GSAC) picked up a Golden State Athletic Conference win in Santee, sweeping the Hawks of San Diego Christian (6-12, 1-7 GSAC) by scores of 25-15, 25-12 and 25-16.
 
"The game went really well," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "We had a steady display of teamwork and we came out with a lot of energy. What helped us in all three sets was that we were doing a good job of siding out and keeping the ball for a while. We passed well, had really tough serves and did a good job of keeping them at bay."
 
Samantha Neely, recently honored as the GSAC Attacker of the Week, led the Warriors with nine kills while hitting .364. Cassidy Rea added eight kills and posted a .533 attack percentage. Hali Galloway also recorded eight kills and contributed eight digs.
 
"Cassidy was coming in and pounding away a bunch of kills for a high hitting percentage," noted Cook. "Sam was excellent in the middle for us. Hali was having a good night. She was swinging hard and had one of the smartest tips I seen from her to close out the first set. It was a perfectly placed tip over the block that no one was expecting."
 
Defensively, Lauren Friis recorded 21 digs and 10 serve receptions while Brooklynn Cheney notched 17 serve receptions and 12 digs.
 
"We out dug them by 15," noted Cook. "That says a lot about our blocks, either funneling their attack or getting a lot of touches so that it was an easy ball to dig. They had a difficult time putting the ball down. Lauren was digging up a bunch of balls and Madison Morrison was picking up both deep shots and short tips. There wasn't a lot that went down around her. She was really solid on defense."
 
Amy Buffham dished out 24 assists in the over the three sets. However, the biggest assist of the night may have come after the game from Buffham's grandfather. The Warriors jumped on the bus to head home and found the engine would not turn over. Buffham's grandfather ran next door to a Pep Boys that was still open, bought some jumper cables and gave the bus a jump start.
 
The Warriors will be back in action this weekend, hosting Ottawa of Arizona (9-7, 4-5) on Friday night at seven o'clock and Arizona Christian on Saturday at two.