GOLDEN, Colo. — Westminster volleyball took on Colorado Mesa on Friday at Lockridge Arena in the RMAC Power Pod, falling 1-3 (16-25, 25-21, 10-25, 22-25). The Griffins won the second set on a closing 5-0 run and out-blocked Colorado Mesa 13.0 to 12.5. The match featured 13 ties and six lead changes.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Set One
Westminster led by as many as six points (11-5), and the opening set was tied at 15-15. Elsa Gilmore hit .500 with four kills, and Jocelyn Grieser hit .600 with three kills. Katelyn Eichert was 1-for-1 on her lone attack, served an ace and had five assists. Nora Elliot also served an ace and added three assists and three digs. Apiline White was 3-for-3 from the service line and passed seven balls without a reception error, and Ava Livolsi had six digs.
Set Two
Westminster built a 16-8 lead, and the set was tied at 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 before the Griffins closed it with five straight points to win 25-21. White served the final four points of the set, Grieser added two kills in the run, and Kyra Mahler and Gilmore combined on a block. Alie Coleman had three kills, an ace, a solo block and two block assists for 6.0 points, and Clara Philipsson, Mahler and Gilmore each had two block assists. Elliot ran the offense with six assists and went 5-for-5 from the service line. White had five digs, was 5-for-5 serving and passed six balls without a reception error. Livolsi had six digs and went 5-for-5 serving. As a team, Westminster passed 18-for-18 without a reception error, served at a .958 clip and had five team blocks in the set.
Set Three
Westminster went 11-for-11 from the service line, including 5-for-5 from Livolsi, and had four block assists from Mahler, Gilmore, White and Coleman. Tiia Heikkinen added three digs.
Set Four
A seven-point run took the fourth set from 19-10 to 19-17, powered by a Gilmore kill, two Coleman kills, three blocks from Philipsson and Coleman, and an Elliot ace. Mahler hit .750 with three kills, and Coleman went 2-for-2 on kills and added a solo block and four block assists for 5.0 points. Philipsson had three block assists, and White added three kills. Elliot had six assists and an ace, Heikkinen had three assists, and Livolsi had an ace and five digs. The Griffins had five team blocks in the set.
GRIFFIN PERFORMANCES
Alie Coleman led Westminster with a match-high 15.0 points on eight kills, an ace, two solo blocks and eight block assists. Elsa Gilmore and Jocelyn Grieser each had nine kills, with Gilmore adding four block assists for 11.0 points and Grieser adding six digs. Apiline White had five kills and 10 digs, Kyra Mahler had five kills and three block assists, and Clara Philipsson had five block assists.
Nora Elliot ran the offense with 17 assists, two aces and 10 digs, and Katelyn Eichert had nine assists, a kill and an ace while going 6-for-6 from the service line. Tiia Heikkinen added four assists and went 4-for-4 serving. Libero Ava Livolsi had a team-high 18 digs, five assists and an ace.
UP NEXT
Westminster faces Colorado School of Mines tomorrow at 5 p.m.
