By Tim Heiduk
September 6, 2019
 
(SURPRISE, Ariz.) After losing the first set against OUAZ (Ariz.), the #23 Westmont women's volleyball team rallied to win the next three sets and defeat the Spirit 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-18) in its Golden State Athletic Conference opener.
 
"The emphasis at the beginning of the match was to play every moment," said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "Ultimately a win is a win. It may not be pretty but we got the job done."
 
The first set was back and forth until the Spirit surged late. With a 22-20 lead, the home side won the final three points of the set to take a surprise lead over the nationally ranked Warriors.
 
"We were sluggish defensively," said McGolpin on her team's play in the first set. "I think people expected others to pick up their slack and no one was … We didn't have the energy that we needed."
 
The Warriors picked up their energy in the second set, thanks to the spark provided by freshman Kendall Kenyon.
 
"In game two, the sparkplug was Kendall," said McGolpin. "She came off the bench to play middle. She got a couple kills and a couple blocks. She was smart with her passing of free balls, but her court energy was what was needed."
 
With a 1-0 advantage, OUAZ continued its momentum in the second game, leading 11-9 and threatening to take a two set to none lead over Westmont. The Warriors battled back though, taking a 21-18 lead before rattling off four straight points to close out the set and even the match.
 
"A lot of it had to do with Kendall's court presence, her facial expressions, and her mood" said McGolpin. "She's a nomad player. She plays every position. In practice we have her play middle, we have her playing outside, we've got her playing right side. Today she got called in to play middle and she did a fantastic job."
 
The third set started off similarly to the first two, with not much to separate the two sides. But Westmont took matters into its own hands and went on a 14-6 run to take a 20-12 lead. The Spirit then fought back to within three points, forcing McGolpin to call a timeout with her team clinging to a 21-18 advantage.
 
"My timeouts are based on a lot of things like momentum, but I try to always call a timeout when our team has a lead," said McGolpin. "You could see with it tied 1-1, it was pretty toe-to-toe. I said to the team, 'This is a dangerous spot we're in because after game one, we've given them confidence that they can beat us.'"
 
The timeout worked, as the Warriors went on to win the third set 25-20.
 
OUAZ kept the score close in the fourth set, as the two teams were tied 14-14.
 
"In a couple different instances in game four, I said, 'If we can get ourselves in a situation where we're at 20 before they are, then statistically speaking we can win this match,'" said McGolpin.
 
The Warriors indeed got to 20 before the Spirit, sparked by an 8-1 run that allowed Westmont to take a 22-15 lead. The visitors ultimately won the set 25-18 to win the match 3-1.
 
Lauren Friis led the Warriors with 19 digs.
 
"Lauren was sacrificing her body and got some amazing digs in set two that really inspired us," said McGolpin.
 
McGolpin also praised the play of Hali Galloway, who tallied 10 kills on the night.
 
"The other person who was really good for us was Hali," said McGolpin. "She definitely got the kills when we needed them."
 
Galloway was one of three Warriors who posted double digit kills, including 12 from both Cassidy Rea and Brooklynn Cheney. Sydny Dunn recorded 24 assists while Keelyn Kistner added 21 of her own.
 
With the win, Westmont improves to 9-2 overall on the season. The Warriors are now 1-0 in the GSAC, the first conference win of the year for a team with conference title aspirations.
 
"We've got to continue taking care of business on the GSAC side of things," said McGolpin. "We're well aware of what the other teams are doing, but for us we can't really get caught up in that. We've just got to take it one step at a time."
 
That next step is a quick one, as the team turns around to take on Arizona Christian (5-3 overall, 0-1 GSAC) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

"We got the traveling jitters out and we had the ability to win on the road when we traveled on the same day in an airplane," said McGolpin. "ACU can be a dangerous team. They know that they've been pretty good as of late, so our women just need to step on the gas pedal, start right away and get after it."