By Ron Smith
August 30, 2019
 
(BELLEVUE, Neb.) Playing in front of extended family in Nebraska, Westmont senior right side hitter Cassidy Rea put on a hitting clinic as #23 Westmont Volleyball (6-2) split a pair of games against ranked opponents. The Warriors played two matches at the GoSarpy.com Labor Day Classic.
 
In the first match, Westmont posted a 3-1 win over #3 Grand View (Iowa). After dropping the first set 25-19, the Warriors rallied taking the next sets by identical scores of 25-17.
 
"After the first game, I told the team we weren't doing the little things we need to do to be successful," said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "We need to be disciplined on defense, we need to be disciplined with our coverage, and we need to be aggressive with our attacking, even if we made mistakes.
 
"The defense improved immensely," noted McGolpin. "Serve receive passing got on and, of course, Cassidy lit on fire. The setters started to connect with the middles, which was something that was lacking in the first set."
 
With a 21-13 lead in the fourth set, Westmont looked to be cruising toward an upset. However, the Vikings of Grand View produced an 11-3 run to tie the set at 24 points apiece. The two teams would battle to a 29-29 tie before Westmont won the set and the match on a kill by Kaylee Ivie and an attack error by the Vikings.
 
Rea recorded 18 kills and a .400 attack percentage while also contributing four blocks.
 
"Cassidy was playing in front of her family," said McGolpin. "It was like a homecoming for her. She demanded the ball and (freshman setter) Keelyn Kistner set her at good times."
 
Kistner recorded 28 assists for the Warriors and contributed 14 digs.
 
"The thing that was most striking for me with Keelyn was that yesterday at practice I encouraged her to keep setting the middles to develop confidence," said McGolpin. "I was happy to see her to set (freshman middle blocker) Lexi Malone a ton. Lexi was amazing with her wrist, hitting the ball left and right. Every time she got a kill, our bench chanted, 'She's a freshman'."
 
Malone tallied 12 kills and posted an attack percentage of .391.
 
McGolpin was also pleased with the defensive efforts of her back line.
 
"The serve receive was spot on," assessed the coach. "We went to a two-man serve receive with Lauren Friis and Brooklynn Cheney. They are the dynamic duo of the two-man serve receive."
 
In the second game, Westmont found itself on the opposite side of the net from the host Bruins of Bellevue (7-2), the event host. Rea led the team again with 14 kills and a .324 attack percentage, but the Warriors lost 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18).
 
"It was reminiscent of the Embry-Riddle match for us," offered McGolpin. "Their outside hitters did a number on us. We did a really good job of passing with the two-man serve receive. Brooklynn was absolutely amazing in the back row. They served her probably 75 percent of the time. They kept at it, which was surprising, and she was so steady and a rock-solid player."

Over the two matches, Cheney tallied 76 serve receptions with just one error (.987) and added 27 digs. Friis recorded 29 serve receptions without an error and 36 digs.
 
"Cassidy was on fire in set one and basically unstoppable," said McGolpin. "In the third set, Kaylee Ivie came alive with her attacking. However, we were always two players shy of doing the best that we could in order to put the best six together."
 
Despite the set-back, McGolpin believes the Warriors are on the right track.
 
"This isn't a sprint, it is a long haul," said McGolpin. "We wanted to play these games in Nebraska so we will be strong in the GSAC. Hopefully, we will learn from this game and come out tomorrow and be a better team."
 
Westmont will face a familiar opponent tomorrow when that take on Morningside (Iowa). Last fall, the Warriors and Mustangs were part of the same pool in the NAIA National Championships. The Warrior prevailed in that match-up 3-2 to secure a place in the single-elimination bracket for the third year in a row.
 
Tomorrow afternoon, Westmont will face Peru State (Neb.) in the final game of the Classic before heading back to Santa Barbara.