By Jacob Norling
September 8, 2021
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A short-handed #15 Westmont (6-5) was able to defeat Westcliff (2-3) on Wednesday night to finish their pre-conference schedule a game over five-hundred. Westmont struggled during set one, then fought off the opposition for the remainder of the evening, winning by a score of 18-25, 25-22, 25-18, and 25-23.
 
Due to COVID-19 protocols, the home Warriors were without a few key players and had to adjust on the fly in order to get it done against the visiting Warriors.
 
"We know that this can happen," said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin, whose club had nine matches postponed due to COVID-19 mandates last season. "This is how things are right now and we need players to step up whenever asked to do so."
 
In the first set, Westcliff got their first lead of the night on a Westmont receiving error to make the score 7-6. The lead then continued to grow, reaching a point where Westcliff led the home club 14-8, causing McGolpin to use her first timeout.
 
The lead widened to 19-12 following the timeout, and Westmont never mounted a run to stop the momentum as Westcliff took the first set 25-18.
 
Westmont recorded just seven kills while committing seven attacking errors and four service errors during the set.
 
"Errors just killed us during the first set," said McGolpin. "The service errors were the most frustrating, and we just gave away way too many points without making them handle a single ball at times. Our passing was off and the score was reflective of that."
 
In set two, the Warriors jumped out to a 6-2 lead thanks to three service aces by Lilian Reininga. While the cleanest of volleyball was not played by Westmont, the club was able to carry the early lead to a 25-22 victory to tie things at one.
 
Phoebe Minch tallied six kills during the second set while Jessie Terlizzi added four of her own.
 
In the third set, Westmont appeared to settle in finally, jumping out to a 7-2 lead before Westcliff's first timeout. The timeout did little to halt Westmont's momentum, as Sara Krueger's third kill of the match gave Westmont a 25-18 win later on.
 
Westmont collected only five kills and a pair of service aces as they took the third set, but the key adjustment was the club's passing game. As the home-Warriors began connecting passes, they forced Westcliff to make plays in their own half of the court, where the road-Warriors made six errors during the set.
 
"It really came down to us making less mistakes," pointed out McGolpin. "Our passing was better and we kept the ball in the play. Our serves got better too and that allowed us to get them out of system as well."
 
In the fourth set, Westmont initially trailed 13-8. From there, kills by Addie Paul, Minch, Krueger, and Terlizzi sparked a rally that eventually brought the club within one at 17-16. After another handful of possessions, Westmont was finally able to tie it 20-20 on a kill by Paul.
 
The club finally got over the hump after Minch's game-high 15th kill gave Westmont their first lead of the set at 21-20. Moments later, Krueger put the nail in the coffin when her seventh kill of the night gave Westmont a 25-23 win, and a match victory.
 
Lilian Reininga, making her first career start at libero, led the team with 13 digs, while Sydny Dunn tallied 40 assists. Dunn has now tallied 100 assists in her last two matches, as the club played in a 5-1 offense once again on Wednesday.
 
Elsewhere, Terlizzi recorded nine kills and led the club with five blocks.
 
"After the first set, Lilian got a lot better," noted McGolpin. "Playing libero for the first time in her career, to be able to give us what she had tonight was all we could ask for. In terms of passing, she was awesome and then she got on a roll with some serves too.
 
"Syd Dunn played really well in the 5-1. While she could have used our middles more, she still set up our offense well in moments we needed her to. Jessie Terlizzi offensively was a key for us. She played really well on the right side, which was crucial to us building our offense."
 
Westmont returns to action on Friday night, when they kick-off Golden State Athletic Conference play against Life Pacific in San Dimas.
 
"Life Pacific is a tough team and we have not seen them in two years," noted McGolpin. "They have one of the best libero's in the conference and really solid outside hitting. We can't look past them, especially on the road. They'll be strong and we have to get better in order to have a chance to win down there."