CARSON, Calif - Westminster women's volleyball (2-3) split its first two matches of the SoCal Freeway Challenge Tournament, each of which went the distance with Point Loma (2-4) winning 15-10 in the fifth set to win 3-2 in the Griffins' first match of the day. Facing a third-consecutive five-set match against tournament co-hosts Cal State Dominguez Hills, Westminster came out firing in the final frame and capitalized on six Toros' attack errors in the final set to secure the 3-2 win with a 15-5 advantage to close out the match.
Match 1 Recap - Westminster vs Point Loma
Lydia Parkinson (Miller) had a team-high 20 kills on 44 attacks (.432) and
Bri Mortensen had 47 assists and 22 digs as Westminster women's volleyball lost 3-2 (18-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-10) in a tight five-set battle against Point Loma to begin the day Friday.
In the second-consecutive five-set match for Westminster, the Griffins won the first two sets and nearly came from behind to win the third but later fell behind and lost the fifth set, 15-10.
The Griffins attack looked sharp early, finishing with 12 kills on 35 attacks in the first (.286) and 17 kills on 29 attacks (.483) in the second as they cruised to 25-18 and 25-20 wins, respectively to open the match.
In a tight third set, Westminster found itself hanging on down 24-20 but came storming back with three straight points on kills from
Avery Alger,
Lydia Parkinson (Miller) and
Sadie Babka. The Griffins were unable to push the set any further, however, as Point Loma made it 2-1 on an attack error from Babka to end the second.
Westminster struggled to slow a Point Loma attack that hit .349 as a group with 17 kills in the fourth set as the Sea Lions led start fo finish in a 25-17 fourth to force a decisive fifth set.
Point Loma's attack remained sharp in the fifth set, conceding just a single point to an attack error as it used a 3-1 run late to close out a 15-10 fifth set and complete the comeback.
Match 2 Recap - Westminster at Cal State Dominguez Hills
Avery Alger and
Olivia Curtis tied with a team-high 11 kills apiece, while
Katie Jacox and
Lydia Parkinson (Miller) each added 10 to help the Westminster attack edge out CSU Dominguez Hills in the first and third sets.
With just a single attack error in the fifth set, Westminster closed out the match comfortably, winning 15-5 in the final frame.
Bri Mortensen, who had 47 assists in the Griffins first match of the day, added another 43 assists in match number two in addition to 13 digs defensively.
Griffins' libero
Holland Vande Merwe led the Westminster defense with 20 digs while Jacox and
Malinda Messner each finished with three blocks from the front of the rotation.
The match was the third-consecutive five-setter for the Griffins who earned their first win of the season last Saturday in a 3-2 win over Eastern New Mexico before dropping a five-set heartbreaker to Point Loma in the first match of the day Friday.
Up Next:
The Griffins will move to Azusa Pacific University for day two of this weekend's SoCall Freeway Challenge Tournament and will play hosts Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (MDT). Westminster wraps up their road trip Saturday evening against Cal Poly Pomona at 6:30 p.m. (MDT).
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