By Ron Smith
August 16, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) After sweeping #24 Northwest of Washington (1-3) in the early afternoon, sixth-ranked Westmont Volleyball (3-1) rallied from a two-set-to-none deficit to defeat #7 College of Idaho (2-2) on the final day of the Hope International Summer Slam. 
 
Sophomore outside hitter Hali Galloway led the way for the Warriors with 12 kills against Northwest while producing a .281 attack percentage.
 
"Hali had an amazing first game," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "First it was our middles coming in really hard and loud and bringing the opponent's middle blocker to them. Then, Hali was taking care of business with the one-on-one block. It was a team effort, but she was getting a lot of single-block opportunities and she really capitalized on that."
 
Senior middle blocker Libby Dahlberg add 10 kills and posted a .500 attack percentage while senior right side hitter Samantha Neely contributed nine kills while hitting .350. Senior setter Amy Buffham tallied 34 assists for the Warriors.
 
"We played super steady," said Cook about game one. "There was nothing flashy – just good steady play. We were calm, cool and collected."
 
If the first game was a smooth ride emotionally, the second was a roller coaster with Westmont facing an uphill battle in the first two sets and then riding the momentum in the final three.
 
"There was an absolute display of emotions," said Cook of her team. "From, 'How are we playing like this? I don't understand,' to 'Oh wow, we're making a comeback,' and then, 'Now, we're playing fearless.' There was a bunch of good things happening and a lot of lessons learned in this first tournament."
 
Asked what turned the tide, Cook responded. "Senior leadership. Amy, Sam and Libby stepped up and started playing like we know they can. That gave the rest of the team that fearless mentality. Our hitters and our defense got a lot more aggressive. Those seniors basically put their feet down and said, 'No, this is not who we are; not how we are going to play. If we want to win, we are going to have to settle in, settle down and be more aggressive.'"
 
The turnaround really started at the end of the second set. Having lost 24-15 in the first set and down 24-14 in the second, Westmont rattled off six straight points before surrendering the set-ending point. Westmont picked up where they left off in the third set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead and stretching that to a 20-8 advantage on their way to a 25-16 win.
 
The fourth set was the most closely contest of the five. With the score tied at 20, however, Westmont went on a 4-0 run that included kills by Dahlberg and Brooklynn Cheney. The two also teamed up for a block during the run. The 'Yotes rallied to make the score 24-22, but another kill by Cheney evened the match at two sets apiece.
 
In the final set, Idaho jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After a quick timeout called by Cook, Westmont delivered five kills in a row – four by Dahlberg – to go up 5-3. The 'Yotes responded with two points to tie the game at five before Westmont scored four more on kills by Dahlberg and Galloway, an error by Idaho and a service ace by Dahlberg. Idaho would stay close, but could not keep pace. A kill be Neely ended the set at 15-11 and gave Westmont the victory.
 
Dahlberg tallied 20 kills while again hitting .500. As a result, the senior became the 14th member of Westmont's 1,000 career kills club. She currently has 1,003 kills and a career .385 attack percentage.
 
Galloway tallied 17 kills while Neely added 13 and Cheney contributed 11. Buffham recorded 58 assists in the match, which is her career high.
 
Cook was also pleased with the performance of her freshman middle blocker Kaylee Ivie. "We felt like Kaylee showed us a different side of her playing. She is an athlete and a good explosive player, but she turned it up and went to a different gear during this tournament. It was good to see her filling a spot that is a pretty big need for us."
 
Speaking from a McDonald's restaurant to keep up the team's tradition of sharing in "McVictories" (also known as McFlurries) after a win, Cook reflected on the lessons learned from the tournament. "We learned that we are really good when we are hot. When we have a lot of energy and bring a lot of fire to the table, we play really well.
 
"We also learned that there are a lot of things to work on for us. We learned how important a good serve receive is for us and how important a good pass is to this team's ability to do everything we want with the offense. We also learned about our defense and about different people playing in the back row and where we are going to be the strongest.
 
"I am pleased with our first tournament. We are going to get better and go up from here. As I remind the team, it is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It matters how we end up and we want to be in the best possible place at the end of the season."
 
The next leg of the race will take place next week at the La Sierra Tournament where the Warriors will face Aquinas (Mich.) and La Sierra on Tuesday and then play Saint Katherine on Wednesday.