By Jacob Norling
November 16, 2024
 
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (14-11, 9-9 PacWest) could not quite keep up with the Concordia Golden Eagles (16-11, 11-8) on Saturday night, as the Warriors fell in a clean-sweep in their home finale. Westmont will now close out their season with one more Northern California road trip next week, before turning the page towards 2025.
 
Concordia took the match 25-19, 25-20, and 25-15 on a night that the Warriors will quickly turn the page on. On an individual note, Valerie Coward led Westmont with eight kills off the bench, while freshman Rylee Elias led the team with 16 digs.
 
Alexa Shiner led the Warriors with 13 assists, Taylor Distelberg led the team with five blocks. As a team, CUI out-killed Westmont 43-29 on a night where Westmont's swings just could not find the Murchison floor.
 
"Individually, Val was outstanding," offered Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "She hit a .304 tonight, and was awesome on the offensive end. Rylee Elias, on the digging, was absolutely fantastic. Rylee is going to be an amazing player over the years. I think about how she's going to play as a senior someday, but in the present she's already pretty dang amazing.
 
"Maddie Finnegan did a nice job tonight as well. Both Maddie and Rylee really anchored our passing. Unfortunately, as a team, we just could not get our offense going. That was a bummer, because our passing was really good and our defense was as well.
 
"Concordia is a good team, and they played great tonight. We'll just keep working to get better in these last two games."
 
The Warriors' final week of action in 2024 begins on Friday, November 22, in Rocklin, when the team takes on Jessup at 6:00 p.m. Links to live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.