SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The Westminster Volleyball team defeated Western Alabama 3-1 (24-26, 26-24, 25-20) and Western New Mexico 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-18)  in the first round of their invitational tournament on Friday.

In the first match, freshmen Audrey Green led the Griffins with 13 kills, followed by Sydnee Simmons with 11. Assisting with the scoring end we're Emilie Austin dishing out 25 assists, followed by Taylor Gustafson with 19.  Megan Gallegos played solid defense with 18 digs to lead the Griffins on the defensive end.  Westminster finished with seven blocks.

In the evening match, Westminster totaled 60 kills as a team with balanced scoring provided by Audrey Green with 14 and Amara Spere, Taylor Harvey and Whitney Wakefield contributing 12 kills each.  Taylor Gustafson and Emilie Austin provided a combined 51 assists to the offensive output.  Defensively the Griffins had nine blocks and 67 digs, 24 of those by Megan Gallegos.   

The Griffins improve to 2-4 on the season. Westminster takes the court Saturday for two matches at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. as they face Harding University (Ark.) and Malone University (Ohio).  

Day two of the Westminster Invitational Tournament will consist of five matches all played in the Behnken Field House beginning at 10:00 a.m.  Visit the tournament information page for match time, results, video, stats and more.