Westmont Volleyball (12-3, 6-1 GSAC) won their fourth match in a row on Friday night when they swept San Diego Christian (1-9, 0-6) in La Mesa. Westmont opened the night with a 25-16 win, and then out-scored the Hawks 50-17 over the final two sets to complete the sweep.
“We didn’t take this lightly, we knew anything could happen,” said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin. “We knew San Diego Christian had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so we had to be mentally strong and come out fast.
“This is a tough trip with a long day and quick turnaround tomorrow. We needed to come out quick tonight, and we did. Credit to our players.”
In the first set, Phoebe Minch sent the Warriors into double-figures with a kill that gave Westmont a 10-7 lead, their largest advantage of the early set. From there, the Warriors consistently added to the lead, with another kill from Minch later pushing the advantage to 17-12.
Finally, after an ace from Taylor Distelberg, the Hawks called their first timeout with the Warriors leading 18-12. Following the timeout, the Warriors continued their march to 25 that ended with four kills from the club’s All-GSAC hitters.
Minch’s seventh and eighth kills of the set, along with kills from Jessie Terlizzi and Lexi Malone, finished off a first-set win over the Hawks by a score of 25-16.
In set two, the Warriors began their most dominant showing of the season, opening the set on an 11-2 run. The run featured five kills and three blocks from the Warriors, and was only the beginning of the onslaught. The Hawks scored to halt the run momentarily at 11-3.
Then, an ace from Alexia Shiner capped off another five-point swing that saw the Warriors lead 16-3. The sides traded points more closely from there on out, but the damage was already done. Eventually, Malone’s fifth kill of the match gave the Warriors a decisive 25-10 win.
In the third set, the two sides traded the first two points, starting in a routine 1-1 tie. Then Westmont scored 13 unanswered points to all but end the match. During the 13-0 run, Westmont recorded seven kills, and added in a pair of blocks as well.
After winning the second set by 15, the Warriors poured it on even more in the final set, this time holding SDC to single digits. Westmont scored the final four points of the match, with their tenth block of the night completing the sweep with a 25-7 victory.
Minch led the Warriors with 10 kills, while Malone added in nine of her own with a .643 attack percentage. Malone also added in three blocks, while Terlizzi and Sara Krueger led the team with four. Minch also led the team with 15 digs, while Keelyn Kistner led the team with 18 assists.
As a team, Westmont hit .326 and out-killed the Hawks 36-18. Westmont ultimately held San Diego Christian to a -.097 hitting percentage.
“Our blocking was unbelievable,” said McGolpin. “Especially in the second and third set our blocking was phenomenal. It’s about time that we really came together with our attacking. We displayed a lot of smart hitting throughout the match.”
Westmont returns to action on Saturday night in Santa Barbara when they host Life Pacific (7-2, 4-2) at 7 p.m.
Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.
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