SALT LAKE CITY - Malinda Messner led the Westminster (3-8, 1-3 RMAC) with 11 kills and added six blocks to help Westminster secure a 3-2 (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 14-25, 17-15) win over N.M. Highlands (4-8, 1-2 RMAC) on Friday night at the Behnken Field House.
Westminster improves to 4-2 all-time against New Mexico Highlands and nearly finished off its first conference win of the season in straight sets after jumping ahead with a 25-18 win in the first followed by a 25-23 second set win. The Griffins trailed 19-17 in the second before a 6-1 run gave Westminster set point. N.M. Highlands scored three quick points before
Olivia Curtis shut down the comeback attempt with a kill to finish off the set.
Despite trailing early in the third, Westminster was even with the Cowgirls for the majority of the third frame and was within striking distance of closing out a straight-set win serving down 24-23, but N.M. Highlands' leader in kills (22), Keegan Lopez, tallied another kill to help put the Cowgirls back into the match with the final point of the third.
N.M. Highlands used a big run late in the fourth to grab momentum and sent the match into a deciding fifth set with a 25-14 fourth-set win.
Westminster rebounded from a match-low .088 hitting percentage in the third and had 10 kills to just four errors on 30 attempts (.200) in the fifth. N.M. Highlands saw match point first up 15-14 before the Griffins won three straight to finish off the five-set victory.
Bri Mortensen and
Katie Jacox again combined to set Griffins' attack, finishing with a combined 37 assists. Mortensen and Jacox each had a double-double with 13 digs while libero,
Alanna Lee, led the way defensively with 22 digs, hitting the 20-dig mark for a second straight match.
Westminster will close out its five-match home stretch on Tuesday night, back at the Behnken Field House, against Northwest Nazarene beginning at 5 p.m. (MDT).
Follow us on social media or visit westminstergriffins.com for all the latest Westminster Athletics scores, news and updates.
