Spurred on by boisterous home crowd, the NAIA No. 7 Westmont women’s volleyball team delivered a three-set sweep against Antelope Valley on Tuesday night at Murchison Gym. The scores were 32-30, 37-25, 25-12.
Westmont’s setters established a record for most assists in a three-set match, dishing out 53. The previous record of 52 was set in 2007 against California Baptist in a losing effort. That was at a time when sets were played to 30 points.
Junior right side hitter Cassidy Rea and freshman outside hitter Hali Galloway led the Warriors led the attack with 13 kills apiece. Rea did not commit an attack error and netted a .500 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Libby Dahlberg added 10 kills while producing a 529 attack percentage.
The Warriors were inspired by the support.
“I think the crowd was unbelievable,” Westmont coach Patti Cook said. “That was so much fun playing in front of that energetic of a crowd. I was blown away with how many fans were there. What it also did was bring on a little bit of nerves. We have played all our matches on the road with a very small crowd. Even though the crowd was on our side, we definitely had to move past some nerves.”
Freshman outside hitter Brooklynn Cheney, who played all the way around in the rotation, tallied 29 serve receptions and 17 digs in the contest. Lauren Friis, a freshman defensive specialist, added 21 digs and 10 serve receptions.
“Our freshman outsides are doing a great job,” noted Cook. “Brooklynn is an unbelievable backrow player. She reads the defense and the block super well. I’m very proud of both her serve receive passing and her defense.”
This weekend, Westmont will head to the Bay Area to participate in the Menlo Tournament.