In its final Golden State Athletic Conference volleyball match of the season, Westmont (24-8, 7-7 GSAC) swept Hope International (3-21, 1-13) by set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 25-16.
For the first time in a decade, the Warriors will now turn their attention to the postseason.
The shape of the postseason will be revealed over the next two days. On Sunday, the NAIA will release the final national rankings. If the Warriors move up at least one place from their current No. 12 ranking, they will receive an opening-round bye and advance directly to the NAIA Volleyball National Championship final site in Sioux City, Iowa.
The likelihood of an opening-round bye was increased when two teams ranked above the Warriors – No. 5 Hasting (Neb.) and No. 11 Georgetown (Ky.) – lost matches in their conference tournaments.
If the Warriors do not move up, they will host an opening-round game on Saturday, Nov. 17. Their first round opponent will be announced on Monday when the NAIA releases the brackets for the national championship.
Despite Saturday’s win, head coach Patti Cook was not pleased with her team’s performance.
“We were not playing up to our potential,” said Cook. “We had too many service errors and weren’t putting the ball away efficiently when we should have taken advantage of holes in the block. We never really got into a comfortable rhythm. We need to learn to come in and play our hearts out and beat a team, rather than letting a team lose to us.”
Madison Serrano led the attack against the Royals of Hope International with 15 kills and a .351 attack percentage. Tessa Martin added eight kills and 17 digs while hitting .318.
