By Ron Smith
February 18, 2021
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (5-0, 2-0 GSAC) fell behind by seven points in the first set, but rallied to sweep Vanguard in three sets (27-25, 25-14, 25-17) in tonight's Golden State Athletic Conference action. The fourth ranked Warriors were led by Patty Kerman's 13 kills and .480 attack percentage.
 
Down 6-5 in the first frame, the Lions reeled off an 8-1 run to take a 13-7 advantage. Six of those eight points came off kills as the Warriors struggled to find a defensive stop to the onslaught. The pace slowed, but the Lions extended their led to 18-11 before Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin called timeout.
 
"They came out looking better than they did on Tuesday," acknowledge McGolpin about the Lions. "One of the differences in the match was that we had a plethora of players who were experienced playing those tight matches from last year.
 
"We just continued to keep striking with our defense. Some of the big turnarounds were our three blocks in a row and tough serving. We had a couple of key kills, but it was our defense that picked up the pace. As the game went on the passing continued to improve and our serving was very good."
 
Trailing 22-16, Westmont finally found its rhythm. The Warriors scored five of the next six points to make it a 21-23 game, but a kill from Vanguard's Mallorie Post gave the Lions set point.
 
Kaylee Ivie delivered a kill to make the score 24-22 before two errors by Vanguard tied the set at 24. A service error by Westmont returned set-point to Vanguard and made the score 25-24.
 
Kerman and Brooklynn Cheney then recorded back-to-back kills to give Westmont its first lead (26-25) since the aforementioned 6-5 score. The set came to an end on the next point, courtesy of a Vanguard error.
 
From that point on, Westmont appeared to be in control. The Warriors jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the second set and never looked back. The early going of the third set was close, but a 6-1 run resulted in a 15-9 advantage for the Warriors. Vanguard came no closer than four points the rest of the way.
 
"On the match, Patty Kerman was unbelievable – 13 kills with one hitting error on 25 attempts is amazing," emphasized McGolpin. "Hali Galloway, after not having a successful night on Tuesday, had a short-term memory. She passed nails and hit an impressive .239 on the night."
 
Four Warriors all concluded the contest with six kills – Ivie, Galloway, Lexi Malone and Cheney. Setters Sydney Dunn and Keelyn Kistner posted 19 and 14 assists respectively. Madison Morrison notched 18 digs.
 
The Warriors will take a bit of a break before returning to competition next week with a road trip to Santee where they will play the Hawks of San Diego Christian in matches on Tuesday and Wednesday.