Box Score By Jacob Norling
October 7, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball was forced to go the distance on Saturday night in Santa Barbara, but in five sets, the Warriors prevailed over the visiting Biola Eagles. Westmont took the first two sets of the night, only to drop sets three and four.
 
In the end, however, Westmont had the last laugh when they took set five by a score of 15-11.
 
"Biola is an excellent team," began Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "They're a lot bigger than us, very strong, and powerful. With that, we finally put the puzzle pieces together. We were calm, but we played inspired.
 
"Our defense was great. Our setters stood out, especially. They anchored down for us defensively. Players came up big in the moment, and we never tried to overplay our position. Everyone did their job tonight."
 
Westmont was unstoppable in set one, recording 13 kills while marching to a 25-17 set win. The Warriors spread the wealth during the set as well, with Taylor Distelberg recording a set-high four kills. Aside from her, Sara Krueger and Phoebe Minch recorded three of their own.
 
The two sides were knotted 11-11 in the beginning of the set, but a 9-2 run for Westmont saw the team take control at 20-13, before a kill from Nariah Prescott capped off the 25-17 win.
 
In set two Westmont came out swinging again, with the Eagles forced to call timeout trailing 11-5. At that point, Sara Krueger collected her fourth and fifth kills of the night, having only attempted six attacks up to that point. Capping off Westmont's opening run was an ace from Jessie Terlizzi, and out of the timeout, the run continued with a kill from Distelberg to make it 12-5.
 
Westmont led by as many as eight at 16-8, thanks to back-to-back kills from Alexis Dennick and Phoebe Minch. However, after Biola scored on three consecutive chances, McGolpin elected to call timeout with the Warriors lead shrinking to 16-11.
 
Twice Biola began to cut into the lead, with the first occasion seeing the Eagles get back within three at 16-13. Back-to-back electrifying blocks from Krueger rebuilt Westmont's lead for a moment, but Biola once again got back within three at 20-17, forcing another Westmont timeout.
 
Following the timeout Westmont allowed Biola to get back within one at 21-20, but back-to-back kills from Minch and Dennick put Westmont back up 23-20, causing Biola to call their final timeout. Moments later, kill number eight from Minch followed by an attacking error from Biola gave Westmont a 25-21 win, and 2-0 set advantage.
 
Westmont was forced to play from behind for the first time in set three, when the Biola attack seemed to find their footing en route to a 10-6 lead. At that point, McGolpin elected to use her first timeout of the set. Following the timeout Westmont hung around and got back within a point at 14-12, but three consecutive scores for Biola led to Westmont using their final timeout trailing 17-12. Following the timeout Westmont was unable to regroup, allowing Biola to force a fourth set with a 25-17 win.
 
Biola stormed out to an immediate 6-0 lead in set four, causing McGolpin to once again call timeout, this time before her team scored a point. The bleeding did not stop however, as eventually, a service ace for the Eagles put Biola up 9-0 before Westmont could score a point.
 
McGolpin called her final timeout with Westmont trailing 12-3, but there was no catching up with Biola, as the Eagles forced a fifth set with a 25-13 win.
 
In the fifth set, the Warriors not only regrouped, but came out on fire to put themselves ahead. Following a 3-3 tie, a pair of kills from Prescott, a kill and a block from Distelberg, and an ace from Terlizzi put Westmont up 8-3. From there, it was Westmont's game to lose.
 
The Eagles got back within a pair at 12-10 following a Dennick attacking error, but on the very next play, Dennick came up huge with an emphatic block to put the team up 13-10. Another kill from Terlizzi put Westmont on the brink of victory, and in the end, an attacking error from Biola emptied the Westmont bench as Westmont survived with a 15-11 victory to win it in five.
 
"I credit Valerie Coward at the end of set four," explained McGolpin. "She came on, had a great pass, and a kill, and we got some momentum back heading into the fifth. We've been working really hard on winning in set five. For us, it's a big deal to win the two-for-ones, and then be the first to five, eight, and 12. After that, you just have to be able to finish the job. Tonight, we accomplished all of our fifth-set goals."
 
Individually, Krueger led Westmont with 12 kills to go along with a .556 attack percentage, while Taylor Distelberg hit .348 to go along with 11 kills. Defensively, Terlizzi led Westmont with 18 digs, while Dennick led Westmont with four blocks.
 
Ella Hosfeld led Westmont with 20 assists, while Alexa Shiner added 18 of her own. Shiner and Terlizzi also each had a pair of service aces.
 
"We put the pieces together tonight," repeated McGolpin. "Everybody did their job, and everyone played inspired volleyball tonight."
 
The Warriors return to PacWest play with a rare match on Tuesday night, when the team will travel down to San Diego to battle Point Loma. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., and links to live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.