SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster women's volleyball team rode a strong offensive effort and only trailed early in the second set as they claimed a 3-0 sweep of Carroll (Mont.) on Saturday afternoon in the Behnken Field House.
 
Westminster (10-12, 4-5 Frontier) finished the afternoon with 48 kills as they claimed the 25-17, 25-19, 25-19 victory. The 48 kills are the second-most in a three-set match this season as the team's .306 hitting percentage is also the second-highest of the year.
 
The Griffins opened the match by scoring the first three points and they never trailed in the set. They used a 5-0 run late in the frame to push the lead to 23-15. Alexis Aalona carried the Griffins offensively in the set as the senior finished with six kills. Westminster had 15 kills as a team and they hit .316 in the win.
 
After trailing early in the second set, Westminster put together an 8-1 run to build a 16-9 advantage. Carroll (13-10, 5-4) answered with seven straight points to tie the set at 16 only to see the Griffins close it out by scoring the final six points. Aalona added another five kills as the team went for 16 while hitting .303.
 
Set three saw the team play fairly even form the start and they were level at 10-10 after a Carroll block. Westminster then put the match away by scoring the set's next eight points to lead 18-10 before cruising to the victory. Amara Culpepper notched six kills in the final set and they team posted 17 kills and six blocks in the frame.
 
Fresh off recording the 1,000th kill of her career on Thursday, Aalona led all players with 15 kills on Saturday. She hit .286 in the match and she also had 10 digs for her seventh straight double-double. Culpepper hit .450 on the day with 12 kills and two blocks.
 
Westminster held Carroll to just 33 kills and only .123 hitting. The Griffins recorded nine blocks and had 47 digs and four service aces.
 
Megan Gallegos led the Griffins with 12 digs while Jaden Green added 10. Green also had two aces and four kills. Jessica Chellsen had eight kills with Desiree Wickwar getting six kills and four blocks. Taylor Gustafson dished out 39 assists and recorded a career-high five blocks, including three solo.
 
Sarah Roshak led Carroll with 10 kills and she hit .500. Rebecca Sweeney led all players with 14 digs in the loss.
 
The Griffins will now spend two weeks on the road playing three matches. The first of those comes on Friday when they travel to Dillon, Mont. for a 7 p.m. MT match at Montana Western from Straugh Gymnasium.