SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Westminster women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday at the Coyote Classic hosted by Cal State University San Bernardino. The Griffins started the day by sweeping Cal State East Bay before falling in a tight five-set match to Cal State San Marcos in the day's finale.
 
In the day's first match against Cal State East Bay, the Griffins (2-4) got a school record hitting performance from Amara Culpepper. The sophomore finished the match with a career high 15 kills, but it was her .650 hitting that set the school mark. Culpepper had kills on her first eight swings and finished with just two errors on 20 swings while also recording four blocks.
 
Alyse Horton contributed 10 kills to the win and had only one error to hit .310. The Griffins finished the match hitting .299 as a team with 47 kills. They limited East Bay to 33 kills and held the Pioneers to .150 hitting. Jaden Green added seven kills 14 digs with Katie Allen getting six kills and six blocks.
 
Against San Marcos, three Griffins would set new career highs for kills as the team posted 61 kills and hit .161. Horton led the way with her new career-best 18 kills. The senior hit .311 in the five sets and added 19 digs for her seventh career double-double.
 
After winning the first set 26-24, Westminster dropped the next two by counts of 25-13 and 25-17. The Griffins were able to force a deciding set by holding off a late San Marcs rally to win the frame 25-23. Down 14-11 in the fifth set, the Griffins tied the set at 14-14 before falling 16-14.
 
Culpepper also had a career high for kills in the match by finishing with 17 and adding four blocks. Green notched her fist career double-double with 11 kills – a career high – and 18 digs. Desiree Wickwar contributed nine kills and Megan Gallegos tallied a season-high 25 digs.
 
"It was good to see the fight we showed tonight," Westminster head coach Al Givens said after the match. "It would have been easy to quit after the third, but we continued to work and gave ourselves a chance."
 
Westminster will conclude play at the Coyote Classic with two matches on Saturday. They face Cal Poly Pomona at 3:30 p.m. MT and then play Cal State Dominguez Hills at 8:30 p.m. Updates for the two matches will be available by following @wc_griffins on Twitter.