By Tim Heiduk
November 8, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Westmont volleyball team moved within one win of a co-GSAC regular season championship with a four-set win over Arizona Christian on Cassidy Rea Night in Murchison Gymnasium. Rea, the lone senior on this year's team, was celebrated on Senior Night with a 25-12, 25-13, 23-25, 25-13 victory on Friday.
 
"I've been with her for four years and have seen her grow, in terms of not just volleyball, which is really inconsequential. She's matured as a woman," said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "When she steps foot into this gym, she's usually a breath of fresh air."
 
She was a breath of fresh air on her Senior Night, leading the Warriors with 13 kills and sparking a fast start in set one.
 
The Warriors stormed out of the gates to a 7-0 lead in the first set, thanks to two Rea kills, a Keelyn Kistner service ace, and four Arizona Christian errors. Westmont extended its lead to as many as 13, as the Warriors won the first set, 25-12. Rea led the team with four kills on only five attempts in set one.
 
In the second set, Westmont led by as many as 13 points at 19-6 and 20-7, before the Firestorm rallied five points in a row to get within eight. After McGolpin called a timeout, the Warriors only gave up one more point in route to winning the second set, 25-13.
 
Westmont looked to be on its way to a three-set sweep, but Arizona Christian fought back to take the third set, 25-23. The Firestorm led for much of the set, by as many as three points. With the Warriors down by two, 20-22, Kistner served up another ace to bring Westmont within one and force an Arizona Christian timeout.

Rea subsequently tied the set with a kill and looked to have given the Warriors the lead, but was ruled to have hit the net. Arizona Christian then earned set point, 24-22, only for a Hali Galloway kill to keep the set alive. The Warriors then thought they tied it up on back-to-back plays and even started celebrating, only for the Firestorm to miraculously keep the ball up and earn the point, forcing a fourth set.
 
"We can't stop. We have to keep going into the whistle blows," said McGolpin. "Kudos to them for finishing the play."
 
The Warriors returned to form in the fourth set, taking a sizable 5-0 lead. The closest the Firestorm got the rest of the way was within three points, as Westmont clinched the match by winning the fourth set, 25-13.
 
"Our serving was amazing," said McGolpin. "When we talked about the scouting report, we wanted to serve their outside hitters. We practiced a lot of serving this week, serving seams, serving zones.
 
"In the locker room, I said, 'Our defense has to be feisty.' Set four was our best defensive set of the match. We were very feisty on defense and that was helpful."
 
Rea paced the Warriors' offense on her Senior Night with 13 kills and a .407 attacking percentage. Galloway tied Rea with 13 kills, while Kendall Kenyon tallied 10 with a .588 attacking percentage.
 
Kistner led the team with 28 assists, while Sydny Dunn added 22.
 
"Syd (Dunn) set very well," said McGolpin. "I thought she was good in all of her spots."
 
Lauren Friis recorded a season-high 31 digs to lead all players. Kaylee Ivie's three blocks were the most by any Warrior.
 
Westmont (22-6 overall, 13-4 GSAC) remains in a three-way tie for first place atop the conference standings with #23 Hope International (19-8, 13-4) and Menlo (17-9, 13-4), who play each other tomorrow.

If the Warriors defeat OUAZ (Ariz.) tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., then Westmont will share the regular season conference title with the winner of the match between Hope International and Menlo. In that case, Westmont would earn the second seed in next weekend's GSAC Tournament, which will be played on the campus of the winner between Hope International and Menlo, due to tiebreakers.
 
"We've got to continue to be hungry," said McGolpin. "There's no shot of hosting (the GSAC Tournament), but this is a goal that they wanted to have, to at least be a GSAC champion. Tomorrow is our chance to do that. We've got to come out on fire."