Box Score By Jacob Norling
September 30, 2023
 
(FRESNO, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball won a thrilling first set, and forced a decisive fifth set on Saturday night, but ultimately, the Warriors fell to the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds 3-2. Fresno Pacific has now taken both ends of the season series against Westmont.
 
"It was a back and forth game," began Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin, "but the fact is, we were unable to shut the door in the big moments. We allowed them to play off of our weaknesses, and we folded mentally. That's the bottom line."
 
In the first set Westmont had no answer for the FPU attack out of the gate, with the Sunbirds utilizing five kills to go up 9-4 quickly. With the early five-point deficit, McGolpin called timeout with the Warriors having not yet recorded a block. Two serves later the Warriors recorded their first block, which sparked a 6-1 run by Westmont to knot things at 10.
 
Following the 10-10 tie, a block from Nariah Prescott and Taylor Distelberg sent a jolt through Westmont's bench after the team took their first lead at 11-10. From there, the two sides traded points through a 19-19 tie, before a block from Jessie Terlizzi and Distelberg put Westmont up 20-19, and an ace from Ella Hosfeld pushed Westmont's total to 21.
 
Following a 25-25 tie, an emphatic kill from Prescott pulled Westmont within a point of victory. Then, the Warriors capped off one of the more thrilling set victories of the season, when Alexis Dennick and Minch teamed up for a block that sealed a 27-25 win.
 
Westmont was forced to play from behind in the second set once again, as FPU set the tone by scoring the first five points of the game. In similar fashion, however, Westmont calmly climbed back into it, with back-to-back aces from Malia de Jesus evening the set at nine apiece.
 
Following a 10-10 tie, FPU collected a kill and a service ace before Westmont committed an attacking error, leading McGolpin to call her timeout trailing 13-10. This time, the Sunbirds kept things rolling following the timeout, with FPU flying to an 18-11 advantage by the time the Warriors used their final timeout.
 
Successfully, the Sunbirds maintained their distance for a match-tying 25-19 win in set two.
 
The third set saw neither team create breathing room early with the teams trading blows to a 22-22 tie. At that point, a kill from FPU's Mia Gilcrest put the Sunbirds up 23-22, which led to McGolpin calling a timeout. Following the timeout, a Westmont attacking error pushed FPU's total to 24, but a Warrior kill followed by another ace from de Jesus tied the game at 24.
 
De Jesus unfortunately followed up the ace with a service error, putting FPU up 25-24, but FPU gave it right back with a service error of their own to tie it at 25. A block from Dennick and Minch gave the Warriors the advantage at 26-25, but once again, a service error from Westmont tied the game at 26.
 
Following the 26-26 tie, FPU came away with a crucial third-set win after consecutive service aces gave the Birds a 28-26 win.
 
In the fourth set Westmont jumped out to an 8-4 advantage, which was their biggest lead of the day in any set up to that point. Moments later the Sunbirds committed an attacking error that put Westmont up 10-5, leading FPU to call timeout to try and avoid a Westmont march to a fifth set.
 
Following the stoppage, however, the Warriors kept on rolling, stretching their lead to 14-5 before surrendering another point. Westmont led later by a score of 19-9, but as the set wore on, FPU did trim away, forcing Westmont call timeout leading 23-18. Things got even tenser out of the timeout, when FPU scored four-consecutive points to make it a 23-22 game.
 
However, after a kill from Minch pulled Westmont within a point of the win, a kill from Terlizzi capped off a scrappy possession, allowing Westmont to survive the fourth set with a 25-22 win.
 
A pair of Westmont errors, along with an FPU kill and service ace, allowed the Sunbirds to take a 4-1 lead early in the fifth set, forcing McGolpin to call timeout early. A pair of service errors and a ball handling error from the Sunbirds allowed Westmont stay in it at 7-5, but again, an FPU kill forced the sides to switch with the Birds leading 8-5.
 
McGolpin called her final timeout with Westmont trailing 9-5, but the Sunbirds scored four consecutive points following the stoppage to put the Warriors on the brink at 13-5. In the end, back-to-back kills from the Sunbirds capped off a dominant 15-6 set win, giving FPU the 3-2 victory to sweep the season series.
 
"15-6 in set five isn't acceptable," stated McGolpin. "At the end of the match we all took a long look at the scoreboard so that we can remember this one, and remind ourselves what it's going to take to compete at this level."
 
Westmont's next match takes place on Friday, October 6, inside Murchison Gym. At 7:00 p.m., the Warriors will play host to Azusa Pacific when the old-GSAC foes renew their rivalry in the PacWest. Links to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.