By Ron Smith
October 26, 2018
 
(ATHERTON, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (21-4, 12-3 GSAC) went the distance to post a 3-2 Golden State Athletic Conference win over the Oaks of Menlo (12-8, 9-7) on Friday night. In the process, the 17th ranked Warriors extended their win streak to 10 matches.
 
Westmont won the first two sets by identical scores of 25-19. However, Menlo staved off a sweep by taking the third set 25-20. In the fourth set, the Oaks rallied from a 22-20 deficit, scoring five of the next six points to win 25-23 and force a decisive fifth set.
 
The fifth set started with a kill by Cassidy Rea and a block by Samantha Neely and Amy Buffham to put the Warriors up 2-0. After the Oaks tied the game at two, Westmont went on a three-point run with a service error by Menlo and a pair of kills from Hali Galloway.
 
Jaden Scott produced a kill for the Oaks before Galloway struck again to make the score 6-3 in favor of the Warriors. Back-to-back kills by Menlo's Kenzie Carpenter and Emily Sunada drew the Oaks to within one (6-5) prompting Westmont head coach Patti Cook to call a timeout.
 
When play resumed, Kaylee Ivie put the ball on the floor for the Warriors before Sofia Salim did the same for the Oaks, making the score 7-6. On the next point, Ivie the closed the net with a solo block to give Westmont an 8-6 advantage at the crossover.
 
A kill by Menlo's Maggie McDonald and a service ace by Sunada tied the game at eight before Brooklynn Cheney's kill put Westmont back on top by one. McDonald tied the game one more time (9-9) with another kill.
 
Neely gave Westmont the next two points, the first with a kill, the second with a solo block. McDonald scored on another kill, but Neely responded in kind to make the score 12-10. After an attack error by the Oaks, Galloway and Neely teamed up for block to give Westmont the first match point (14-10) of the evening.
 
A kill by Carpenter, made the score 14-11 before Buffham dumped the ball over the net on a broken play to give Westmont the victory.
 
Galloway tallied 20 kills for the Warriors while also producing 17 kills and 12 digs. Neely produced 15 kills and six digs. She also notched six block assists and one block solo. Brooklynn Cheney recorded 12 kills, 28 digs and 33 serve receptions – the latter without an error. Ivie added 10 kills to the Warriors cause while hitting .533.
 
Buffham tied her personal record of 58 assists. The senior setter also had six kills, 14 digs and two block assists.
 
In other GSAC action, #11 The Master's (25-4, 14-1) defeated William Jessup (9-17, 4-12) by a score of 3-1  and #15 Vanguard (23-6, 10-5) swept Ottawa of Arizona (14-12, 7-9). Arizona Christian (14-8, 10-6) also recorded a sweep, defeating San Diego Christian (7-19, 1-14) while Hope International (16-12, 9-7) won in three over Life Pacific (7-19, 2-14).
 
The Master's continues to sit atop the GSAC standings with a two-match lead over Westmont. Vanguard is in third place, two more matches behind the Warriors. Arizona Christian is currently in fourth place, half a match behind Vanguard and one match ahead of Hope International.
 
Tomorrow, the Warriors will take on William Jessup in a match scheduled for three o'clock.