By Jacob Norling
September 21, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (5-3, 0-1 PacWest) opened up PacWest play on Saturday against defending conference champion Point Loma (8-0, 2-0) in Murchison Gym. The Sea Lions, who remained undefeated on Saturday, picked up right where they left off in 2023, when they opened PacWest play on a 16-match winning streak. On Saturday, the road team took care of the Warriors in four sets.
 
The day began with a tight-knit first set, when the sides traded points to a 14-14 tie. Back-to-back kills by PLNU standout Abigail Nua sparked a four-point run for the Sea Lions, which led to an 18-14 lead for the visitors. The remainder of the first set proved to be an uphill battle for Westmont, and although a kill from Sara Kruger pulled Westmont within one, the Sea Lions prevailed by an inch in a 25-23 match-opening win.
 
Westmont's greatest regrets of the day occurred in set two, when the Warriors were unable to hang on to a 12-4 lead. When the deficit grew to eight, Point Loma took advantage of seven unanswered points to pull within one, flipping the set on its ear before Westmont could figure out how to respond. McGolpin's final timeout came after PLNU completed a 15-3 run, seeing the Sea Lions head into a huddle leading 19-15 in a set they once trailed 12-4.
 
Westmont clawed back momentarily to tie things at 19, but once Point Loma reclaimed the lead, the Sea Lions never looked back in what eventually became a dominant 25-21 win for the road team.
 
Westmont once again earned a multi-point advantage in the third set, and this time, the Warriors kept their foot on the gas pedal after jumping out to a 12-6 lead. Eventually, one of Maddie Finnegan's 16 kills pushed Westmont's lead to 20-13, with the finish line in sight. Moments later, two more kills from the star freshman solidified a 25-19 win to prolong the afternoon.
 
Set four saw the Sea Lions come back with a vengeance, jumping out to a 9-3 lead in the blink of an eye, with their ninth point coming off the 12th kill from Nua. Westmont showed a fair amount of resiliency in the set, pulling within a pair on several occasions, including at 16-14. After a Westmont attacking error, however, another kill from Nua forced McGolpin to use her final timeout with Westmont trailing 18-14.
 
Westmont continued to stay on the heels of the Sea Lions, but still, the home team never pulled within less than a pair down the stretch. In the end, a vicious stuff-block from Point Loma put the finishing touches on a 25-21 set win, and a 3-1 match victory for the Sea Lions.
 
"We lost today, but our team played really well," assured Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "Point Loma is a very good team. Offensively, I felt like we out-swung them, but while we had some moments of brilliance, there were other times where we just could not stop a run of points.
 
"Still, in each set, we were right there with the defending PacWest champs. I'm proud of this group."
 
For Westmont, the greatest impression was made by the freshman Finnegan, who led the team with 16 kills to go along with a .318 attack percentage. Prescott had a strong day as well, ending the game with 13 kills and an attack percentage of .286. Elsewhere, both Alexa Shiner and Ella Hosfeld led the team with 21 assists each, while freshman Rylee Elias led the team with 13 digs.
 
"Maddie Finnegan was absolutely outstanding," noted McGolpin, "overall, I think it was a good match. We had a good crowd, especially for a Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Again, we're right there with some of the best teams we're going to face. I'm excited for Tuesday."
 
Westmont will return to action on Tuesday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m., when they host Azusa Pacific inside Murchison Gym. Link to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.