By Jarred Davis
November 27, 2018
 
(SIOUX CITY, Iowa.) Senior middle blocker Samantha Neely tallied 19 kills and junior right side hitter Cassidy Rea recorded 15 as #15 Westmont Volleyball recorded a 3-1 (28-26, 25-22, 21-25, 25-13) victory over the Eagles of #18 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) at the NAIA Championship. The match was the first of three pool play games for the Warriors.
 
"I thought that Cassidy had a really good game and made a bunch of really critical kills," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "She seemed pretty much unstoppable on the right side.
 
"Samantha had a great game as well. She really showed her athleticism and her range in her attack. She was doing a really good job on blocking and closing as well."
 
The Warriors had just a .225 attack percentage, but held the Cougars to .171. Westmont totaled 64 kills on 178 attempts and recorded 10 blocks on the night.
 
Westmont ultimately battled through adversity in the first set, trailing 22-15, but refused to quit and got great efforts from many players late in the match.
 
The Warriors received a huge lift from senior, Libby Dahlberg, who tallied 10 kills on 18 total attacks for a .333 attacking percentage in her first game back in over two months.
 
"She definitely changed the momentum of game one when were down quite a bit," added Cook. "She was able to come in and shift the momentum and I was really proud of the way the players responded to the total lineup change."
 
Westmont sparked a 9-2 run to tie the game up at 24 all and then closed out the set with another 4-2 run to take a one-set-to-none lead over the Eagles.
 
"We were definitely fired up for that match," said Cook. "We made some nervous mistakes, but I was really proud of the way we stayed composed and pulled ourselves together to start playing well."
 
In the second set, the Warriors kept momentum rolling and jumped out to an early 10-8 lead after Dahlberg finished a kill.
 
Westmont then went on to close out the set 15-14 and took a huge 2-0 advantage heading into the third set.
 
The Warriors finished with 93 digs compared to 81 for the Eagles. Lauren Friis recorded 23 digs, while Brooklynn Cheney and Amy Buffham added 20 and 18.
 
"I thought that was a great game for Lauren," added Cook. "She was super scrappy, passed well and her voice was important too. She stayed engaged and was really commanding from the floor with directing her team on where they should be.
 
"Brooklyn went on a long serving run and that was definitely helpful for our cause."
 
The Eagles responded and put together an early run of their own in the third set. Embry-Riddle went on to produce a .316 attack percentage, tallying 15 kills compared to the Warriors' 13 and posting a .179 percentage.
 
Westmont got as close as 21-24, but the Eagles closed out the set and got their first win of the match.
 
In the fourth set, Westmont knew they only needed one last set to put the match away and came out with a ferocious effort that overpowered the Eagles.
 
The Warriors jumped out to a 13-5 lead to control the set and then ignited another 8-1 run that gave them a commanding 21-6 advantage.
 
Neely tallied the final kill for Westmont and gave the Warriors a 25-13 win and their first win in pool play.
 
"It was definitely a good win for us," added Cook. "I was really pleased with how we took care of business in the fourth set."
 
The Warriors continue pool play the next two days. On Wednesday, Westmont will take The Mustangs of Morningside (Iowa) at 8:00 p.m. CST. Thursday, Westmont will match-up with #2 Park (Mo.) at 8:00 p.m. In today's other Pool B game, Park (30-1) defeated Morningside (13-15) by a score of 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 26-24).
 
The top two teams from the pool will advance to the 16-team single-elimination bracket that will begin on Friday morning and conclude with the championship game on Saturday evening.
 
"We have a full 24 hours to rest and recover. Recovery is going to be really key," said Cook. "Physically we have to get calories in our body and got to make sure to ice bath and take care of any nagging soreness."