Sixty-four minutes was all it took for the Westmont women’s volleyball team to take down Hope International in a three game sweep at Murchison Gymnasium, the Warriors won 25-14, 25-13, 25-15.
“I am feeling really good about this win,” Westmont coach Patti Cook said. “We worked our tails off in practice this week on our defense. We focused on all defensive work and intentionally made them better. It was great to see our hard work pay off on the court tonight.”
With multiple players returning from injuries tonight, everyone was able to play in their regular positions.
“The team was very happy to back in their normal spots. It was really nice to see us play well together and produce what we had been working on all week,” said Cook.
Having both Ciena Colburn and Mila Maricic back in the middle made a significant difference, with the team earning nine blocks, while the Royals tallied none. “Nine blocks is fantastic and it is a large part to the fact that our two middle blockers are back,” Cook noted.
Offensively, the Warriors were well balanced and firing on all cylinders. With great serve receive coming from the back row, the setters, Heidi Thompson (12 assists) and Alexa Nestlerode (18 assists), came out with hot hands and were able to evenly distribute the ball to all three positions. Sydney Striff was the attack leader with nine kills, zero errors on 12 attempts for a .750 hitting percentage. Ciena Colburn earned six kills, while Serrano, McGough and McCann each tallied five apiece.
