By Jacob Norling
November 5, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Volleyball (9-14, 3-6 PacWest) swept the Azusa Pacific Cougars (7-15, 2-7) on Wednesday night in Santa Barbara, giving Westmont its first win in The Murch since September 29. It was also the Warriors' first win in a countable PacWest match since that same night.
 
"The players had a long talk on Monday, just them without the coaches," shared Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. "Then yesterday, we had a little bit of a talk as a team all together. I think for all of us, and definitely for myself, it allowed me to recalibrate a little bit.
 
"I went back to my own alumni event last weekend (at Northern Arizona), and it's really allowed me to hone in on the most important parts of college volleyball. It's not about the win-loss record, but the relationships we build with our teammates and our coaches that stick with us. Tonight was refreshing, because I saw a team that was playing for each other."
 
In what must have felt like a breath of fresh air, it was Westmont that dictated the pace from the end of the first set on. Following an 18-18 tie, kills from Ceanna O'Loughlin and Nariah Prescott highlighted a three-point that gave Westmont a lead they would never relinquish. With the final touch, O'Loughlin's sixth kill of the opener sealed a 25-22 win to begin the night.
 
In set two it appeared as though we were in store for the typical back-and-forth affair the Warriors have grown accustomed to. Instead, it was the Cougars who let one slip away as the Warriors took control of the match. APU led 17-13, but following a timeout from McGolpin Westmont would win eight points in a row to flip the set on its ear at 21-17. The run would feature three more kills from who else but O'Loughlin as he ended the second set with 11 kills to her name. It was Maddie Finnegan's fifth kill of the night that gave Westmont a 25-19 win in the second, with Westmont ending the set on a 12-2 run at APU's expense.
 
The Warriors came out swinging in the third, with a pair of kills from O'Loughlin and Prescott highlighting a 9-2 run to open the set. It was APU's turn to finally put some pressure on the Warriors, however, as the Cougars ran into an 8-1 run to knot things up at 10-all.
 
The two sides would trade points from there for a handful of minutes, before a kill from Camila Cornejo-Farmer and a pair of service aces from Lily Underwood swung things back in Westmont's favor (18-15). At that point, APU used its final timeout of the evening to try and slow Westmont's roll. The attempt would be unsuccessful, as Sierra McClure landed an ace to officially seal the sweep 25-19 in set three.
 
"We stayed aggressive with our attacking, but it was our serving that was really the difference in the story," said McGolpin. "We had a lot of aces tonight, and it was awesome because that really set a tone. We had opportunities, where they pushed us, but we pushed back. That was refreshing, for sure."
 
Individually, O'Loughlin led the way with 15 kills, while Finnegan, Prescott, and Audrey Hyde all finished with six. Lily Underwood led the team with 24 assists, while Rylee Elias led the team with 17 digs. Both Underwood and McClure each tallied a trio of aces. As a team, Westmont hit .317 on the night and also out-blocked APU 10-6. Westmont's 10 service aces compared to APU's four also left a sizable dent on the stat-sheet.
 
"Ceanna was great," nodded McGolpin. "Ceanna hit well, and then Rylee was great as the service line, and her digging was excellent as well. We finally got some stops on the blocking in the latter-half of that match, and that was great. Nariah, specifically, had a monster block in set three. That set the tone down the stretch.
 
"I thought the setters did a great job distributing the ball tonight, too. They were putting it on a tee, and they deserve a lot of credit. We just moved as a unit tonight."
 
Westmont returns to action on Friday night in Costa Mesa, when the Warriors take on Vanguard at 6:00 p.m.