Westmont Volleyball fought hard in the first two sets against Cal State Stanislaus, but the Warriors seemed to run out of steam in the middle of the third set, falling to CSU Stanislaus (also nicknamed the Warriors) 30-28, 20-25, 25-14, 25-13.
The teams were playing at the Kelp Bed in the CSU Monterey Bay Otter Classic.
Westmont (0-5) overcame a 13-20 deficit in the first set with a 9-3 run which gave the Warriors set-point (24-23). But Cal State Stanislaus rallied in time to force the set into extra play, eventually prevailing 30-28.
Westmont never trailed in the second set, though Stanislaus was within one point late (20-19). Setter Candace Adema dumped the ball over the net to put the Warriors up 21-19, but a kill by CSU Stanislaus’ Andrea Fett made it a 21-20 score. Westmont’s Madison Serrano then restored the two-point margin with a kill of her own.
Ciara Turner teamed up first with Adema and then with Tessa Martin to produced back-to-back blocks, making the score 24-20 in favor of the Warriors from Santa Barbara. An attack error by the Bay Area Warriors gave the set to Westmontand tied the match at one-all.
The third set remained close throughout the first half. But with the score tied at 12, Cal State Stanislaus reeled off 10 straight points on their way to a 2-1 lead in the match. The fourth set proved to be similar. Tied at four-all, Westmont saw Stanislaus posted the next four points on their side of the scoreboard. Westmont pulled within two (12-10) after Serrano fired off back-to-back kills, but Stanislaus scored the next eight points to take a commanding 20-10 lead.
Serrano lead the Warriors with 11 kills, followed by Turner who tallied eight. Adema notched 33 assists in the four-set match.
The Warriors return to action in the Otter Classic tomorrow afternoon. At one o’clock Westmont will take on another set of Warriors, this time of the William Jessup variety. Then at six, Westmont will play the host, Cal State Monterey Bay.
