Taylor Beckman produced 12 kills to help lead the top-ranked Westmont volleyball to a three-game sweep of Arizona Christian (25-21, 25-15, 25-20) on Saturday in Phoenix.
Beckman also had 19 serve receptions without an error and eight digs.
With the win, the NAIA’s only undefeated team improved to 27-0 overall and 12-0 in GSAC play.
The Firestorm jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first set and maintained a lead until back-to-back-to-back kills by Beckman gave Westmont a 13-12 advantage. Still tied at 21, the Warriors’ benefited from a Firestorm attack error before Sam Neely and Mila Maricic produced a block to make the score 23-21.
After an Arizona Christian timeout, Neely delivered a kill to give the Warriors set point and force the Firestorm to call timeout again. Another attack error by the Firestorm gave Westmont a one-set-to-none advantage.
The second set went Westmont’s way from the start. The Warriors jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never looked back. Westmont produced a .357 attack percentage connecting for 13 kills on 28 attempts with just three errors.
Westmont took at 6-2 lead in the final set and then stretched their led to a more comfortable 13-7. Arizona Christian battled back to pull within three points at 17-14, but the Firestorm would get no closer.
Neely and Libby Dahlberg each tallied seven kills for the Warriors while Amy Buffham notched 22 assists. Cortney Crosby and Kami Troesh each contributed 12 digs with Crosby adding 18 serve receptions and Troesh contributing 10 more.
With the win, Westmont maintained its two-match lead in the GSAC standings over #19 Biola (19-8. 8-2). The Eagles kept pace with the Warriors by sweeping Menlo (12-14, 4-8).