Westmont Volleyball split a pair of marathon matches against CSU Dominguez Hills and CSU Monterey Bay in Rohnert Park on Friday.
The Warriors lost to Dominguez Hills and prevailed against CSU Monterey Bay for the second week in a row,
“Two five-set matches in one day is very tough,” said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. “It’s tough mentally, it’s tough physically, and it’s tough emotionally. To get through the first match and find a way to come back in the second says a lot about this group.”
In the first match Jessie Terlizzi led the Warriors with 13 kills, while Phoebe Minch added 12 and Sara Krueger added 11. Also offensively, Ella Hosfeld and Alexa Shiner each recorded 24 assists, while stellar serving from Malia De Jesus allowed her to tally a trio of service aces.
In the nightcap the Warriors went toe-to-toe with the CSU Monterey Bay.
After splitting the first two sets, the teams played an epic third.a
After a 33-33 tie, a kill from Distelberg gave Westmont a one-point advantage, and an ace from Hosfeld gave the Warriors a memorable 35-33 third-set victory.
“We ran out of subs in set three,” explained McGolpin, “and Malia de Jesus ended up playing front row. Our volleyball IQ was off the charts to be able to run a 5-1, with one hitter in, and find a way to win.”
Monterey Bay bounced back to force a fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth, but come set five, the Warriors were poised to best the Otters in five again.
A pair of kills from Minch highlighted a 7-1 run to open the fifth set, and a kill by Alexis Dennick moments later made it 11-3. In the end, another ace from Hosfeld put the finishing touches on a dominant 15-6 set victory, and a 3-2 match win.
“I think we have a new out-of-conference rival,” declared McGolpin. “Our volleyball IQ outpaced our opponent’s tonight, and our grit did as well. It was a heated game, back and forth, and it’s going to be like that no doubt in the future when we play them. Grit was the name of the game tonight.”
Individually, Minch led the Warriors with 16 kills, while Hosfeld led the Warriors with 31 assists. Defensively, Minch and Hashimoto led the club with 10 digs, while Distelberg collected a team-high six blocks.
“All of our hitters were amazing,” added McGolpin. “We needed to have our outsides hit like they did. Taylor and Lexi were unbelievable, and so was Sara Krueger. Nariah, with a .533, was a huge standout tonight.
“Our setters were placing the balls at the right place at the right time, and our defense was great. Kai and Malia dug a ton of balls during that game, and came up big at several points.”
“I want to note, too,” concluded McGolpin, “that Taylor Distelberg’s work ethic is what leads us. The way she plays the game, that’s the Westmont way.”
Westmont plays two more in Rohnert Park on Saturday before returning to Murchison Gym next Thursday night.