By Jarred Davis
November 30, 2018

(SIOUX CITY, Iowa.) The 2018 Westmont Volleyball season came to an end this morning in the round of 16 at the NAIA National Championship. The #15 Warriors (27-7) fell in four sets to first-ranked Grand View (Iowa) (36-0) by scores of (25-19, 25-22, 26-28, 25-15).

Right side hitter Cassidy Rea led the Warriors with 15 kills and middle blocker Libby Dahlberg tallied 13. As a team, the Warriors recorded a .201 attack percentage while the Vikings went on to hit away at a .280 clip.

Grand View's offense was led by outside hitter Kelsey Redmond who produced 22 kills.

The Warriors held a two-point advantage in the second set (17-15) after trailing early on in the match, but were unable to hold on and pick up a split in the first two sets.

"There were a lot of teams that got sent home; I'm feeling very grateful that we were one of the 16 teams playing today," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "We fought all the way up until the end. I couldn't be prouder in just the effort that we put into the match and I really feel we left everything we had on the floor and didn't hold back."

Three seniors saw their Westmont careers come to an end.

Samantha Neely will leave Westmont as the 2018 Golden State Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Year. Libby Dahlberg is a two-time All-American who battled through injury this year and Amy Buffham leaves a great season behind making the All-GSAC team as a setter.

"This was a great group, they were an amazing group of freshman when they came in. I knew they were going do something really special," added Cook.

"They led us to the national tournament three out of their four years," noted Cook. "Just amazing leadership from them and they're going to leave a lasting imprint on this team. Their legacy is going to be leadership, perseverance, relentless play and a whole lot of grit because all three of these seniors battled through pain the entire season."

Over the past two seasons, Westmont has produced a record of 63-11, giving the Warriors a two-year winning percentage of .851 and a promising future.

"I was looking around the locker room after the game and I can point out leadership qualities in every single player on this team," said Cook. "The future is incredibly bright for Westmont Volleyball. They just get hungrier every single year, gaining one more year of experience and exposure of this type of play will go a long way for our team."