In front of a noisy home crowd that filled the bleachers, Westmont Women’s Volleyball (5-9, 3-3 GSAC) defeated #12 Biola (15-7, 3-3) in five sets on Saturday night (15-25, 25-19, 18-25, 27-25, 15-9). It was the Warriors’ first victory over Biola since 2002.
Three Warriors tallied double-digit kills. Freshman Madison Serrano tallied a team-high 18 kills while sophomores Tessa Martin and Ciara Turner added 15 and 11 respectively. Turner produced a game-high .429 attack percentage, making only two errors on 21 attempts
“Maddy didn’t start off having the best match,” said Westmont head coach Patti Cook. “But she kept on going after it and I was really proud of her courage. Tessa was being smart with her hitting and finding the holes when she need to and keeping it in when she needed to. Ciara played really well. She is one of our most athletics jumpers. When she fires up her legs, she is pretty much unstoppable.”
The Warriors did not get off to a great start. After playing the start of the set even, Westmont gave up a 6-0 run to spot the Eagles a 16-11 advantage. Biola used the boost to pick up a 25-15 victory and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
“This team knows when they are not playing well and they want to make the change,” said Cook. “I may pull a couple of switches here and there, but they get themselves motivated and fired up. The players get mad when they don’t play well and play up to their potential. I think that helps us. I can put the exact same six back on the court after a loss and I’m going to get a completely different game from them. That is just them taking pride in their playing.”
A different result is just what happened. Westmont hit .262 in the second set while holding Biola to .073. Westmont collected 10 of the first 13 points to jump out to an early lead. Biola closed to within one point at 16-15, but Westmont scored the next six points which included a kill by Serrano, a dump over the net by setter Candace Adema (7 kills, 50 assists) and two kills by Martin.
With the match tied at one-all, Biola took charge in the third set. The Eagles posted a 7-3 lead, from which Westmont never recovered.
“The fourth set was a heart attack waiting to happen – for the coach,” said Cook. “I don’t like blowing a 24-20 lead, but I am proud that they stayed patient and keep cracking.”
Up 20-19, a kill by Turner was followed by a block by Turner and Adema to give Westmont a 22-19 advantage. The Warriors scored another point on an Eagle’s attack error before Biola put an end to the Warrior run with a block, making it 23-20. A kill by Turner gave the Warriors set point at 24-20, but Biola fought back and tied the game at 24-all.
Another attack error by the Eagles gave the Warriors set point again at 25-24. However, Christine Douglas delivered one of her 19 kills to tie the set at 25. Martin’s subsequent kill gave the Warriors set point for the third time, which proved to be the charm. Kayta Goyich delivered the decisive blow for the Warriors, forcing the match into the fifth set.
Westmont came out firing away in the final frame and jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Biola closed to within one point at 7-6, but Westmont scored the next four points to take an 11-6 advantage. Biola never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
“We haven’t had much experience with five-set matches, so I wasn’t sure what to expect,” admitted Cook. “I was proud of the team coming out strong in the fifth set. I felt like they won that set rather than waiting for Biola to lose. They took it into their own hands.”
The defenses for both sides were impressive. Combined, only one serve reception error was committed in the five-set match. Westmont had five players who tallied double-digit digs led by Kristen Schroeder with 20.
The Warriors will return to action on Tuesday night with a long road trip to #6 Fresno Pacific (9-4, 5-1). First serve is at seven o’clock.
