Taylor Beckman smashed down 14 kills to lead Westmont Volleyball (8-2, 1-0 GSAC) to a 3-0 win in its Golden State Athletic Conference season opener against William Jessup. Westmont (8-2) won by scores of 25-13, 25-23, 25-14. Beckman made just one hitting error in 23 attempts to post an attack percentage of .565.
“Taylor is an incredible player who will come into her own even more as the season advances,” asserted Westmont head coach Patti Cook. “She is hungry, she is aggressive and she is one of our more steady players.”
The win is the seventh in a row for Westmont – the last five by three game sweeps. Westmont has won its last 21 sets and 24 of its last 25.
“It’s always nice to get a win in your first conference match,” noted Cook. “It was a lot closer than we wanted it to be. William Jessup has improved over the last two years. They were showing it with some of their offensive power. They found a way around and through our block in the second set. We had to make adjustments, which we did.”
With the score tied at 23 in the second set, the Warriors received back-to-back kills from Beckman and Sydney Striff (6 kills) to take a two-sets-to-none lead.
Junior libero Kami Troesh and freshman hitter Sam Neely put on a show in the third set to help secure the win for the Warriors. After a kill by Neely in the first rally, Troesh served for nine straight points to put the Warriors up 10-0. Neely went on to record five kills and post a .444 attack percentage.
“I put freshman Sam Neely in the third set and it was fun to see her give us some good production,” said Cook. “Sam is going to be a really good player for us. She has earned herself into being the first-on at both pins.
“Kami is not usually someone who has service runs, so it was nice to get to see her do that. She was placing it very well. (Assistant Coach) Jesse Wheeler was making some very good calls to her, moving the passers around and keeping them on their toes. I was really impressed with Kami’s short serves in particular.”
The Warriors will play their third home game of the week tomorrow night when they host conference newcomer Menlo at seven o’clock.
“This is fun having three games in one week,” said Cook. “I think the players would say the same, they prefer that over practicing all the time.”
