By Ron Smith
September 7, 2019
 
(GLENDALE, Ariz.) Westmont Volleyball (10-2, 2-0 GSAC) concluded its road trip to the Copper State with a three-set sweep of Arizona Christian (5-4, 0-2 GSAC) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Warriors, who posted set scores of 25-14, 25-22, 25-16, were led offensively by senior right side hitter Cassidy Rea who tallied 13 kills while producing an attack percentage of .417. Freshman middle blocker Lexi Malone and junior outside hitter Hali Galloway contributed eight kills each with Malone hitting at a .375 clip.
 
"Not only did Cassidy get some crushing hits, she also tipped the ball and had some smart shots as well," offered Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin.
 
"(Freshman setter) Keelyn Kistner did a great job of finding Lexi," said McGolpin. "She was especially effective in doing so on the off passes. Lexi used her wrists to hit right and left with better vision in her attacking."
 
The Warriors wasted no time establishing their game plan, jumping out to a 13-4 lead in the opening set. Galloway produced three kills during the first 17 rallies. Up 14-7, Westmont went on a 7-1 run, including two kills by Rea, to take a commanding 21-8 advantage. Kistner notched two service aces during the first set.
 
A more closely contested second set found the score tied at 18 points each. A Firestorm service error and a kill from Malone put the Warriors up by two before ACU's Tyler Gibhart and Jamie Ricksecker temporarily slowed down the Warrior attack with a block.
 
Westmont responded by scoring the next four points, the first on a block by junior right side hitter Patty Kerman. After an attack error by the home team, Kistner recorded two more service aces to make the score 24-19 in favor of the Warriors.
 
"Patty made a good contribution," assessed McGolpin. "She had a lot of touches on the block and was an effective attacker."
 
Arizona Christian pulled within two on kills by Annabelle Camoirano and Alex Douglas and a block by Camoirano and Amanda Bakonyi. However the Warriors ended the threatened comeback when Rea tallied her fifth kill of the set.
 
In the final frame, Westmont turned a 6-4 advantage into a 13-5 lead with kills from five different players. The Firestorm produced a 6-1 run to come within three (14-11), however Westmont scored on 10 of the next 11 serves to go up 24-11. A late rally made the score 24-16 before Rea ended the contest with her final kill of the match.
 
Defensively, the Warriors produced nine blocks. Malone lead the way with five block assists while sophomore middle blocker Kaylee Ivie and Rea each added four. Kerman contributed three more.
 
"Kaylee got on track today with three kills and no errors," recalled McGolpin of the sophomore middle blocker's offensive output.
 
"We had strong discipline of defense, today," noted McGolpin. "Our blocking definitely picked up and our serving was tough. We knew after reading about The Master's game with Arizona Christian yesterday that our serving needed to be tough."
 
Westmont tallied nine service aces over the three sets, seven of them by Kistner.
 
"Not only did we get a lot of service aces, but we got them out of system by serving deep and high balls," reported McGolpin.
 
Cheney tallied 17 serve receptions (no errors) and 13 digs while junior defensive specialist Madison Morrison recorded 18 serve receptions (no errors) and 6 digs. Junior libero Lauren Friis totaled eight serve receptions and 18 digs.
 
"Brooklynn, Lauren and Maddy were our defensive catalyst again," noted McGolpin. "The three of them handled nearly all our serve receptions."
 
Westmont returns home to host #15 The Master's (6-5, 2-0) on Saturday night at seven o'clock. After the first weekend of conference play, the Warriors and Mustangs are tied with the Menlo Oaks for first place in the GSAC standings.
 
"I am hoping for a big crowd that will help to inspire us," said McGolpin. "We'll give the team Monday and Tuesday off to regroup and rest. Then, we need them to press the gas pedal like they have done all season long. I think they will be ready and fired up."