By Ron Smith
August 28, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It took just over an hour for #6 Westmont Volleyball (7-1) to sweep the Pioneers of Antelope Valley (0-12) in the Warriors' home opener. The Warriors won by scores of 25-15, 25-12, 25-7, extending their streak of sets won to 15 in a row.
 
"I was pleased with the team's discipline," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "Prior to the game, we talked about keeping mental focus with the home crowd and our friends in the stands. I thought they did a really nice job with that. Our offense was flowing well and our passing was good. Coming into the game, we wanted to focus on our serve receive and I thought we did just that. We were only aced twice in the entire match and that was not too shabby.
 
Offensively, the Warriors were led by seniors Samantha Neely and Libby Dahlberg. Neely connected for a game-high 10 kills while posting an attack percentage of .563. Dahlberg tallied nine kills and hit .533.
 
Amy Buffham posted 29 kills for the Warriors while playing in a 5-1 offense (one setter). The senior also made a significant contribution from the service line. In the third set, Buffham began serving with the score 1-1 and didn't finish until the Warriors had a 14-1 advantage.
 
"We saw good performances from everyone at different times," noted Cook. "I was pleased with what we continue to see in Kaylee (Ivie) at the middle blocker positions. Hali (Galloway) and Brooklynn (Cheney) were doing a really nice job swinging away and doing their job as outside hitters. Sam showed her dominated senior self. It is fun to see her blossom into such a dominate player.
 
"Lauren (Friis) was all over the place on defense. We have come to rely a lot on her to pick up those balls that you think are going to go down. They don't go down on Lauren, she picks everything up. It is fun to see her in a leadership role in the back court."
 
Westmont will take to the court again tomorrow afternoon when they host California Lutheran (0-0) at 4:00 p.m.