In a slugfest of a volleyball match, No. 25-ranked Westmont lost a five-set heartbreaker to fourth-ranked Concordia at Murchison Gym, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 16-14.
The Warriors showed great balance in their attack as four players hit in double figures, led by Ciara Turner’s 19. Alison Sharp put away 18 balls, Tess Martin 14 and Marie Trudelle 11. Martin also had 20 digs
Concordia’s hammer was NAIA All-American Amber Rudens with a whopping 31 kills on 75 sets.
“It was a fantastic game by our team,” said Westmont coach Smoot. “I have seen great improvement compared to our five-game loss at California Baptist and four close sets at Azusa Pacific. We played to win. Unfortunately we didn’t, but we went after it and played to win.”
The Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 27-25 victory in the first frame before losing the next two. They rallied in set number four and claimed a convincing 25-17 victory to the delight of the majority of the 202 fans in attendance.
“I was really proud of my team tonight,” said Westmont sophomore setter Candace Adema. “They definitely stepped it up. We were down two games to one and came back and won the fourth game by a big lead considering we were playing Concordia. The fifth game we played our hearts out.”
“I think we really fed off the crowd’s energy,” said Martin, “and it helped pump us up. It was so much fun to have a home game and I am excited for the rest of them.”
In the decisive fifth set, Westmont found itself up 6-4, but Concordia scored four of the next five points to go up 8-7 at the crossover.
The Eagles made it 9-7 on a kill by Ridens. But the Warriors’ Sharp produced a kill and the Eagles’ missed on an attack to tie the score at nine apiece.
After Ridens delivered another kill, the game was halted for more than 10 minutes as the officials tried to determine what the score was in the final set. When play resumed, the scoreboard read 10-9 in favor of Concordia.
The Eagles went on a 4-2 run to secure match point at 14-11, but the Warriors still had some fight in them. A kill by freshman Martin made it 14-12 and an attack error by Ridens brought Westmont to within one. Trudelle then delivered an ace serve to tie the set at 14-all.
However, the upset was not to be, as Ridens and Kyleen Iverson (7 kills, 30 serve receptions, 10 digs) delivered back-to-back kills to help the Eagles fly from Murchison with the win.
“It was very intense,” said Sharp of the match. “The crowd helped so much. It was so fun to look at them and hear them cheering. It gave us so much excitement to want to win for them.”
Smoot said his setter made a big difference for his team.
“Candace created a lot of one-on-one offensive opportunities for our hitters,” said Smoot. “She set very well. We have been emphasizing running the middle a little more and she did a great job of that tonight. Our middle blockers got 70 out of 211 sets. That’s pretty good.”
Adema tallied 58 assists – the most recorded by a Warrior since Amber Donovan recorded 60 against Concordia four years and four days ago.
Westmont falls to 6-5 overall and 0-3 in the GSAC. Concordia is 10-2, 2-1.
