A Tense First Set Decides the Match for WU

A Tense First Set Decides the Match for WU
October 13, 2023
By Francisco Claudio
 
Many times this season the Westcliff women's volleyball team has been locked in close first sets that later played a huge role in the overall match's score. 
 
On Thursday the Warriors were in another first set battle against Benedictine Mesa which played a big factor in the loss: 28-26, 25-11, 25-20.
 
Westcliff came back after being down 10-5 in the first set and took the lead in the latter stages, 20-19.
 
The Warriors had a set point at 26-25 but a couple of errors switched the momentum of the first set and Benedictine Mesa won three points in a row to steal the set.
 
It was hard to recover from that much energy and emotion expenditure and the second set was easily taken by Benedictine. 

The Warriors put up more resistance in the third set but being down two sets was too much to overcome as they dropped another match for an overall record of 4-9.

"16 kills in the first set was an excellent start to the match.," said head coach Andy Cole. "Our motivation never wavered. It was a complete emotional match. 
 
"There are good vibes going into tomorrow after our team talk in the locker room. Balancing our conflicting ideas to success with acknowledgment of efforts will raise us up above to victory."
 
Their conference record stands at 4-7 as Westcliff is currently sitting in the eighth spot in the Cal Pac Conference.
 
The next stretch of games will be important for them if they want to make a push for one of the spots in the postseason tournament. 
 
Samantha Lister led the way for the Warriors with nine kills, 11 assists, and 10 digs.
 
Faith Webb had eight kills and nine digs.
 
Ava Himstreet was solid as always on the defensive end with 17 digs.
 
Up Next: The Warriors continue their current road trip against Park-Gilbert on Friday, October 13th, with a start time of 6:00PM.