BUTTE, Mont. – The Westminster women's volleyball team completed its trip to the Big Sky Challenge by defeating California Merced on Saturday morning before dropping a match with No. 18 College of Idaho this afternoon.
 
By splitting the two matches, Westminster finishes the weekend at 2-2 and now sits at 6-7 overall heading into Frontier Conference action next week.
 
The Griffins took the opening two sets from UC Merced (2-8) before eventually winning in four sets by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18. They finished the match with 47 kills and hitting .262 with 41 assists. Westminster limited the Bobcats to .127 hitting despite their 50 kills.
 
Alexis Aalona and Alyse Horton combined to record 28 of the Griffins 47 kills. Aalona tallied 15 kills and eight digs with Horton hitting .323 with her 13 kills. Jacey Saunders led the team with 11 digs while also recording two service aces.
 
In the final match of the day, Westminster wasn't able to overcome a slow start and they fell to College of Idaho (3-6) by scores of 25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20. The Yotes held a 54-46 edge in kills and they also posted a 68-55 advantage in digs.
 
Desiree Wickwar led the Griffins with a career-high 11 kills and hitting .526. Amara Culpepper added 10 kills and three blocks in the match. Jaden Green finished with 16 digs and Aalona posted 13 digs.
 
Westminster will now enter conference play with a road trip next weekend. The first of their 14 Frontier Conference matches hits on Sept. 11 in Billings, Mont. against Rocky Mountain (Mont.).