By Jacob Norling
October 13, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball put on a dominant showing in front of their home crowd on Friday night in Santa Barbara, when the Warriors took care of the Dominican Penguins in three sets. The match kicked off Westmont's homecoming weekend, which will feature a three-game slate on Saturday. On Friday night, a packed Murchison crowd had much to cheer about as the Warriors got going early and rarely looked back.
 
Westmont out-killed Dominican 43-25, out-blocked them 9-4, and posted an attack percentage of .287 while limiting the Penguins to an .089 clip. Individually, Sara Krueger posted 14 kills with an absurd attack percentage of .500, while Phoebe Minch, Jessie Terlizzi, and Nariah Prescott all collected seven kills each. Alexa Shiner posted 16 assists, while Ella Hosfeld added 15 of her own to go along with a pair of service aces.
 
Defensively, Shiner also led Westmont with 13 digs, while Kaili Hashimoto had a dozen herself. At the net, Alexis Dennick was a force as she posted six blocks, while Sara Krueger and Taylor Distelberg each added three each.
 
Westmont nearly surrendered a once-eight point advantage in the first set, but once the Penguins made it a 21-20 game, the Warriors scored four of the final six points to win it 25-22. Krueger, who collected kills on nine of her first 11 attempts, put the finishing touches with a kill for point 25.
 
Westmont jumped out an 8-3 lead in set two, and continued to stretch out their lead when a kill from Minch made it 18-10. Minutes later, Hosfeld flared the ball over the net for a set-ending 25-17 kill. In the third set, Westmont already led 15-13 when a kill from Krueger put Westmont up three and sent Minch to the service line.
 
Minch would remain there for the next eight points of the set, with Westmont's total being pushed to 24. Moments after, a service error from Dominican finalized a 25-14 set win for Westmont, and a 3-0 sweep for the Warriors.
 
"Our goal was to get the sweep," acknowledged Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "Within that goal, we set point goals for the match, and almost met the goals each time. We for sure met the goal in set three, which was to keep them under 15.
 
"Alexa Shiner played absolutely amazing. Her defense was fantastic, and she was creative in her offense as well. Our two right-sides were basically unstoppable at the end, and our middles were strong as well."
 
McGolpin's team was honored pregame in a short ceremony for their academic efforts during the 2022-23 season. As presented by Marine Captain Austin Faunce and Major Audrianna Llinas, the Warriors were given the AVCA/Marine Corp Academic Award, which the Warriors earned for posting a collective GPA above 3.33.
 
To cap off the pregame festivities, Westmont's Malia de Jesus sang the National Anthem.
 
"It was a fun occasion," said McGolpin. "Malia singing was great, and I think she did a great job. It made for a special night, getting that academic award, and then getting to have the Marines here as well. What makes that special is my husband was a Marine.
 
"I think it's important for these people to see the individuals who serve our country, and make it great. Having a Major here, who was a woman, was really special, because women can do anything."
 

Homecoming weekend continues on Saturday and comes to an end when Westmont Volleyball hosts another match, this time against the Academy of Art Urban Knights. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and links to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.