By Jacob Norling
September 1, 2023
 
(SEASIDE, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball opened up their 50th year of program history on Friday, when they played their first NCAA Division II matches in Seaside. In the first half of the doubleheader the Warriors went toe-to-toe with the Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) Nighthawks in a hard-fought four-set match. Ultimately, the Nighthawks utilized a third-set surge to swing momentum before defeating Westmont a set later.
 
In the second match of the afternoon, Westmont Volleyball made themselves the answer to a future trivia question by becoming the first team in college history to win a match as a member of NCAA Div. II. Against MSU Mankato (Minn.), the Warriors were able to outlast the Mavericks in four sets to get the job done.
 
"The first thing I said in the locker room was 'we got our first D2 win!'" said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin, "and I know that's not going to be the last of 'em. We were jumping up and down and it was a lot of fun."
 
In their first match, Westmont trailed in game one by as many as five when the score was 17-12.  Then, one of Taylor Distelberg's game-high 12 kills sparked an 8-3 run by the Warriors to knot the game at 20.
 
Moments later a kill from Sara Krueger propelled Westmont to a 23-21 lead, but three kills and a bad set in favor of NNU allowed the Nighthawks to prevail and win it 25-23.
 
Westmont got on the board in set two, however, taking over in the heart of the set following a 13-12 deficit. Senior Jessie Terlizzi, who collected nine kills during the match, pounded a kill that began a 7-0 run for Westmont, putting the team up 19-14.
 
Later, Alexis Dennick finished off the second-set victory with a kill to secure a 25-18 win, tying the match at one apiece.
 
The match's momentum swung completely during the third set, with Westmont initially trailing 18-12 following a timeout. In resilient fashion, however, the Warriors clawed their way back to tie the game at 19, and moments later take a 20-19 lead.
 
After an NNU attacking error the Warriors led set three 24-21, one point away from taking control of the match. In heartbreaking fashion, however, Northwest Nazarene flipped the script. Not only did the Nighthawks storm back to score five consecutive points for a 26-24 win, but NNU continued their momentous swing by scoring the first six points of set four.
 
The Warriors did not go down quietly, making the fourth set a competitive affair after the initial run, but after leading as late as 20-19, the Warriors surrendered six points in a seven-point span to drop the fourth set 25-21, and drop the match by a score of 3-1.
 
"We could have walked away from that with a victory," assured McGolpin. "We should've won that set when we were up 24-21. That was a big blow, and in two of those sets we didn't start well at all. We can't let teams make runs like that early.
 
"We just didn't play as well as we could have."
 
Of individual note, Ella Hosfeld collected 20 assists in her collegiate debut, while Alexa Shiner added 19 of her own. Defensively, libero Kaili Hashimoto led Westmont with 21 digs, while Distelberg led the team with six blocks.
 
In the second match, Westmont rode a pair of five-point runs to an early lead in set one, going on top 14-8 before the chairs were warm. A trio of kills from Nariah Prescott, Krueger, and Minch stretched Westmont's lead even further moments later, which preceded Westmont finishing the first set with a 25-18 win.
 
Mankato had their strongest run of the match during the second set, when a four-point run during the first part of the game allowed the Mavericks to claim an 11-6 advantage. Westmont closed the gap a bit, but was unable to tie the set later, as MSU was able to build on their early lead for a 25-17 victory.
 
In set three, Westmont trailed by four points on multiple occasions, as late as an 18-14 deficit. At that point, Westmont took advantage of a kill, and three Maverick errors to close the gap and knot it at 18. Then, following a 22-22 tie, a pair of kills by Dennick, and a set-ending kill by Krueger put the Warriors ahead with a 25-22 win.
 
The Warriors carried the momentum from the swing set and jumped out an 8-2 lead in set four, highlighted by another three kills from Terlizzi. The Mavericks clawed back to tie things at 12, but by the time the set reached the 20's, Westmont had once again built a 20-16 advantage.
 
Krueger collected her game-high 13th and 14th kills to push Westmont to 22 points, moments later a kill by Minch pushed Westmont to 24. In the end, Taylor Distelberg's seventh kill of the match gave Westmont a 25-19 set win, a 3-1 match victory, and their first win at the NCAA Div. II level.
 
"It was a good team effort," reflected McGolpin. "Our passing was good, we ran the middles like crazy, and our right sides were effective. Our middles were solid all day long, and our setters put up some really nice balls. They were really gutsy in their decision making as well. Our serving was really strong during the last match as well.
 
"Lexi Dennick and Taylor Distelberg were standouts today," continued McGolpin. "Not only was their attack amazing, but those were two tough teams to block and they were all over the place. Sara Krueger was fantastic as well.
 
"Kai was fantastic in the libero spot and Malia de Jesus did a nice job on the defensive end as well."
 
Individually, Alexa Shiner led the way in the second match with 29 assists and five service aces, while Hashimoto added another 14 digs. At the net, Dennick collected four more blocks, while Prescott and Krueger added three of their own, each.
 
Westmont returns to action on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., when they play the weekend tournament's host, the CSU Monterey Bay Otters.