Westmont Women’s Volleyball (6-2) competed in the final day of the Labor Day Classic in Nebraska on Saturday, and left with two more wins and a new wave of confidence.
Westmont defeated Grand View (Iowa) in four sets, and in the evening, Westmont swept #12 Bellevue, the tournament host.
“I am super stoked on this team,” said coach Ruth McGolpin. “It was an incredible team effort for the entire day. Today, we had the toughest matches we have had so far. One team was receiving votes, and the other was a top-15 team in the nation. We just played incredible.”
In the first match of the day the Warriors clashed with the Grand View Vikings (1-7), the team that eliminated them in the NAIA National Tournament in April of 2021. Against the Vikings, the Warriors came out swinging and took control early.
In the first two sets, the Warriors outscored the Vikings 50-28, winning the first set 25-11 and following it up with a 25-17 win. In the third set, Grand View successfully fought off a late run by Westmont to force a fourth set with a 25-23 win.
In the fourth set, the Vikings gave the Warriors all they could handle, never letting Westmont build more than a four-point lead. Twice, late in the set, Grand View was able to tie the score, as late when they knotted things at 21.
However, while the Vikings could tie the Warriors, Westmont never once trailed during the set. Eventually, Jessie Terlizzi’s 12th kill of the match ended it with a 25-23 win.
Along with Terlizzi’s 12 kills, Lexi Malone and Phoebe Minch each collected 13. Malone also led the Warriors with five blocks, while Kaili Hashimoto recorded a career-high 25 digs. Keelyn Kistner recorded 28 assists, while Alexa Shiner added 18 of her own.
In the second match, Westmont went up against the Bellevue Bruins (5-4), a team that advanced to the NAIA Quarterfinals last season.
With the first set tied at 25, the Bruins committed a service error and an attacking error to give the Warriors a 27-25 come-from-behind win.
Bellevue fought to make things interesting by the end of the second set, but ultimately, Sara Krueger’s second kill of the set gave Westmont a 25-20 win, and a 2-0 set lead.
In the third set, with the score 17-13, kills by Terlizzi, Ashley Boswell, and Taylor Distelberg, along with an ace from Hashimoto, capped one final run for the Warriors who at that point led 21-13.
Moments later, the night ended with a 25-17 win to cap off a 3-0 sweep, and a 4-0 weekend in Omaha.
In the Bellevue match, Terlizzi led the Warriors with 10 kills, while Malone contributed with eight, and Krueger tallied six. Minch collected five service aces, Kistner led the club with 17 assists, and Hashimoto again led the way with 14 digs.
The Warriors will fly home Sunday morning, and then, with high hopes, begin preparing for their Golden State Athletic Conference schedule. The Warriors have their home-opener in Murchison Gym Saturday at 7:00 p.m., when they host The Master’s in their first GSAC game of 2022.