Westmont Volleyball welcomed third-ranked Biola to Murchison Gymnasium on Tuesday night with the hopes of upsetting the Eagles – and it looked for a while like the Warriors might pull it off. However, Biola withstood three Westmont set points in the opening frame and went on to sweep the Warriors 28-26, 25-20, 25-15.
“When we had the opportunity to score (to win the set), we got away from our game plan,” said Westmont head coach Jim Smoot. “We could have run the middle a little more in that situation. Our serve receive was really good in the first game and then I thought the next two games it broke down.”
Down 22-23 in the first set, freshman middle blocker Ciara Turner evened the score with an attacked that glanced off a solo blocker – whetting the Warriors appetite for an upset. Freshman right side hitter Kayta Goyich served and the Warriors picked up their first set point when Biola’s Christian Woodruff’s attack went long.
After a Biola timeout, Goyich served for the win. Turner attacked again from the middle, but the ball bounced off the head of an Eagle, returned to Westmont’s side of the net and was touched by a Warrior before hitting the ground.
Tied at 24, Joy Talcott served for the Eagles. An overpass resulted in an attack by middle blocker Rachel Buckley that appeared to swing the set in the Eagles’ favor. However Buckley was called for being in the net and Westmont found itself up 25-24.
After another Biola timeout, Westmont’s Tessa Martine served set point. Again, it was Buckley with the attack and this time her ball found the floor to even the game at 25. Biola’s Abbie Wright served and Westmont setter Candace Adema set Alison Sharp on the outside. Sharp hammered the ball down the line and once more the Warriors found themselves on the brink of winning the first set.
This time it was Kristen Schroeder who served set point, but Biola’s Tavea Hampton pounded the ball to the floor tying the set one last time. Lindsey Dietzen served the next two points for the Eagles, and Hampton produced two kills to end the set in favor of the Eagles.
The second set remained close until the score reached 20-20. But the Warriors could not find another point and the Eagles rattled off five straight to take a two-set-to-none lead. The third set was all Biola with the Eagles jumping out to a 9-2 lead and the Warriors never threatening to get back in it.
“We lost by a total of 17 points,” noted Smoot. “We had 24 attack errors and they had seven blocks. That means there were 17 balls that we gave them points and they didn’t have to make a play.”
Smoot addressed the attack errors with his players after the game, but that was not his only concern about his team that includes 14 underclassmen.
“They need to take information the coaches are feeding the team and putting it into action,” said Smoot “Biola continually hit angle on our block. (The coaching staff) kept saying, ‘move it in,’ and they didn’t. Something this young group needs to learn is to let us coach. I felt like we weren’t having much effect on the game because information wasn’t being put into action.”
The Warriors next opportunity to put the coaches’ words into action will come on Saturday night when Westmont hosts Vanguard in a seven o’clock match.
