By Ron Smith
September 15, 2018
 
(SANTA CLARITA, Calif.) For the first time since 2015, Westmont Volleyball (11-2, 2-1 GSAC) has lost a Golden State Athletic Conference match. The Warriors fell on the road at #25 The Master's (14-3, 3-0) in straight sets to end a 32-match winning streak in regular season games – a 34-match winning streak including postseason contests.
 
"Master's wanted it more than we did," said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. "They came out really firing and playing like they had nothing to lose. We didn't have an answer for them. They played a nice match and we didn't answer in kind."
 
The Warriors, who fell by scores of 25-15, 25-22 and 25-33, hit just .178 for the game while the Mustangs posted a .316 attack percentage. The Master's was also aided by 11 team blocks while Westmont recorded just three.
 
However, Cook cited a different reason for the Warriors' loss.
 
"We lost the serve-receive battle," noted the coach. "They were serving tough, as they usually do, but we weren't handling those serves very well. So, we didn't have as many options on offense as we wanted throughout the entirety of the match."
 
Westmont was led offensively by Samantha Neely who tallied 11 kills ad posted a .391 attack percentage.
 
"Sam played well tonight," affirmed the coach. "Her offense was at a high level. She found a lot of holes in the block and was coming in swinging hard and being aggressive. That really helped us in the rotations in which she was in the front row."
 
Brooklynn Cheney added eight kills for the Warriors while Libby Dahlberg, who had missed the previous two games due to illness, contributed seven kills.
 
As it turned out, it was a night of upsets in the GSAC. Not only did The Master's upend Westmont, but Menlo (6-1, 3-1) defeated #13 Vanguard (14-2, 2-1) in five sets and Arizona Christian (5-5, 2-2) did the same to Hope International (7-9, 2-2). As a result, The Master's is left as the only undefeated team in the conference standings.
 
Westmont will return to GSAC play next Friday night when they host Vanguard at Murchison Gymnasium in a seven o'clock match.