Westmont Volleyball, ranked at number 24 in the NAIA Preseason Poll, started the season off with a pair of wins on the first day of the 2012 Biola/Red Lion Anaheim Summer Slam.
After sweeping Southern Oregon 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-12) in an early afternoon game, the Warriors knocked off No. 8 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-17).
“That was a great way to start our season, especially with Southern Oregon beating Biola last weekend,” noted Westmont head coach Patti Cook. “They are a good team, even though they are not ranked.
“Our players handled themselves as an experienced team,” assessed Cook. “They looked like a bunch of veterans out there. Overall, they played solid defense and made some great scramble plays. When they made a mistake, they moved right on to the next point without dwelling on it. They didn’t let the errors get to them at all.”
In the win over Southern Oregon, Madison Serrano tallied 13 kills while posting an attack percentage of .545. The sophomore outside hitter had just one attack error in 22 attempts. Sophomore Heidi Thompson, playing in the right side hitter position, recorded 10 kills (.232 attack percentage) while middle blocker Alexandria Wilson contributed seven kills (.312) attack percentage. As a team, Westmont hit .288 and recorded nine service aces – four by junior Tessa Martin.
“We really relied on the arms of a couple of players,” said Cook. “One of them was Madison. She did a fantastic job on the outside for us. She made plays happen out of broken plays.
“Our middles (Ciara Turner and Wilson) were both doing a great job of putting up a solid block and closing the split. That made it easy to work our defense around.”
Down 8-10 in the first set, Westmont scored the next seven points, including three service aces by Martin, to take control of the set.
“I would say that in both matches they took a set to feel out the other team and pick-up on tendencies,” offered Cook. “Once they became familiar with the opponent, they did what they needed to do to win each point.”
The second set proved to be a much closer affair. With the score tied at 19-all in the second set, Wilson powered the ball to the ground and Martin added a kill, prompting Southern Oregon to call a timeout with Westmont up 21-19. When play resumed, a ball handling error by the Raiders and a service ace by Serrano give Westmont a 23-19 lead.
However, the Raiders scored the next three points on a Westmont service error and two solo blocks, prompting Cook to call her own time out with the score at 23-22. Westmont then scored the final two points on a bad set by Southern Oregon and a service ace from senior libero Kristin Schroeder.
The third set provided much less drama. Down 5-7, Westmont scored on a ball hit out of play by the Raiders, sending Schroeder to the service line. Ten serves later, Westmont had a 16-7 lead and was well on its way to its winning its opening match of the season.
“Schroeder was key in running our defense and wasn’t letting anything hit the ground,” said Cook.
Against Lewis-Clark State (3-3), the Warriors struggled with their attack in the first set, hitting just .114 and committing nine attack errors. Westmont led much of the match, but Lewis-Clark State caught them at 15, scored the next two points, and never relinquished the lead.
Westmont rebounded in the second set. Leading 12-11, the Warriors went on an 8-2 run to take a 20-13 advantage. Lewis-Clark State battled back to pull within two points at 23-21, but after a Warrior timeout, Lewis-Clark State committed a service error to make it set point. A kill by Lewis-Clark State’s Keisha Kennedy-Luebbert made it 24-22 before Thompson’s connected for a kill to claim the second set for Westmont and tie the match at one-set all.
Westmont never trailed in the third set, scoring 10 of the first 15 points on its way to a 14-7 advantage. Westmont committed just four attack errors in the third frame, notching an attack percentage of .344. The Warrior’s offense improved even more in the fourth set as Westmont limited attack errors to three and recorded an attack percentage of .423.
Lewis-Clark came out strong in the fourth set and went up 3-0, but Westmont responded with seven straight points to take control of the match. Lewis-Clark State closed to within two points at 14-12 before kills by Serrano and Wilson restored a four-point cushion.
Turner hit .381 for the Warriors, tallying 11 kills. Madison Serrano added 12 kills and a .250 attack percentage. Alex Wilson and Heidi Thompson contributed 10 more kills each while setter Candice Adema notched 38 assists and 16 digs and four blocks.
Westmont (2-0) will return to action in the Biola Tournament tomorrow morning at 8:30 to take on #7 Rocky Mountain (Mont.). The Battlin’ Bears (2-4) posted a 3-0 win over #10 Vanguard this morning before being swept by #5 Biola this afternoon.
At 12:30, Westmont will conclude the Biola Tournament by taking on Midland (Neb.). The Midland Warriors are 2-0 after sweeping both William Jessup and Vanguard earlier today.
