Warriors Down No. 8 William Penn, in Epic 4th

By Francisco Claudio

The atmosphere was electric, as both teams cheered louder after every point that they won.

But the Westcliff men's volleyball team would not back down as they rallied back to defeat No. 8 William Penn in four sets (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 27-25).

It was a back-and-forth from the start, with very little separating the Warriors from the No. 8.

It wasn't until the late stages of the first set that the Warriors started to see the first set slip away from them.

Westcliff was down 19-18 when William Penn snatched two straight points resulting in a time-out from the Warriors.

But it wasn't enough as the home team Westcliff found themselves down one set.

The Warriors huddled and tried to regroup as they had three minutes before the second set would begin.

The break turned out to be just what they needed because it was about to be a barrage from the home team, which William Penn was not ready for.

Westcliff came out determined and firing on all cylinders as they quickly went up 6-1.

And this early separation would be the key to taking the second set as the Warriors never lost the lead and took the set 25-20.

Now we had a match on our hands as we were a set apiece, and the intensity from both teams rose with each point.

The third started much like the first set, with the teams going back and forth and a lead never growing bigger than three points.

It was until the late stages of the set that the Warriors made their move as they won three points in a row to earn themselves a set point of 24-20.

The first point was a kill from the high-flying Gabriel Pizza with an assist from Pawel Tuz.

Then the always dependable Mohamed Ilias Lazaar had two service aces to set up that set point.

The Warriors would take the set 25-22 after another kill from Pizza and an assist from Tuz.

Westcliff was now up 2-1 with the confidence and belief growing that this would be a successful mission.

But it wouldn't be easy to take it in four sets against a very good William Penn team.

The fourth turned out to be a bigger battle than the previous sets, as the teams were even at 12-12.

Again, there was very little separating them as the Warriors were down just one point minutes later, 20-19.

But this is when the match turned up another level, as William Penn notched four points in a row to set up a set point for themselves.

Westcliff took a time-out to regroup and talk it through.

And then they replied with four straight points of their own to tie it up 24-24.

Both teams traded points, 25-25.

And then Westcliff had enough as they proved why this team is capable of going on the way this season as they got the two points needed, 27-25.

Of course, it ended with Pizza, as he jumped and reached out his hand to get the block sending the whole team onto the floor to celebrate.

Head Coach Alex Griffiths shared her thoughts on the fourth set when the time out was called: "Just confirming what we were running and that we had to play clean volleyball. Making sure that if we were not getting the first ball execution we know exactly what was happening on the other side."

Westcliff has now beaten their first nationally-ranked opponent.

"It feels good," said Griffiths. "I feel like we could have done this a lot sooner and knocked down other big names. I like being able to knock down these big teams, I love being the underdog, so bring it on."

The Warriors will get one day of rest before they hit the courts again at home on Saturday, March 18, against Saint Katherine.

The first serve will be at 6:00 PM.