Posted: Sep 20, 2023
By Francisco Claudio
The Westcliff women's volleyball team keeps showing glimpses of the high ceiling they could reach with each match they play.
The Warriors traveled north on Tuesday afternoon to play against The Master's in a non-conference matchup and fell 25-23, 25-19, 25-16.
A common theme with the Warriors this season is starting off strong and surprising the opponent early on.
The Warriors did that on Tuesday as they went up 6-1 in the first set with the help of their always-reliable veteran Michelle Do.
But the Master's responded back with a flurry of points and a 13-2 run to change the course of the first set.
Westcliff was behind, so they had to try to catch up for the rest of the set.
A kill from Samantha Lister tied up the set at 23-23, the closest the score had been for a while.
But the Warriors weren't able to get the stops needed as they fell behind down a set.
"We came out strong," said head coach Andy Cole. "We dictated the serve pass game halfway through the first set. We needed to keep unrelenting pressure on and we backed down.
"They sniffed blood in the water and never looked back."
The first set definitely took a lot out of the Warriors as they fell in the second and third too.
Still, there were many bright spots for the Warriors including Lister putting up a solid stat line of 10 kills, 10 digs, and nine assists.
Do had 15 assists to add to her all-time record.
Abbey Beckwith had eight kills and a huge solo block over the opponent's best attacker.
"The student-athletes made adjustments and sided out well," Cole said. "Master's turned a few real points and that was effectively the difference in the second second.
"There are a lot of look back at the video on this match to explore some trends developing technical areas to sharpen up. Always an opportunity to learn."
Westcliff will have two more matches this week, one away and the other at home.
On Friday, September 22nd, they will visit Providence Christian for a match at 7:00PM.
The following day they will be home at JLAW to play UAV at 7:00PM.
