CHADRON, Neb. — Westminster volleyball swept Chadron State, 3-0 (30-28, 25-20, 25-11), Saturday at Chicoine Center in an RMAC match, hitting .298 as a team to out-hit Chadron State .298 to .167. The win is the Griffins' fourth of the season and third in RMAC play, and it featured 51 kills, 49 assists, seven aces and 51 digs.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Set One
The opener was a marathon, with 14 ties and two lead changes before Westminster won it 30-28 in extra points. The Griffins led by as many as five (12-7) and took the lead for good at 26-25. Elsa Gilmore's kill made it 28-27, and after Chadron State tied it at 28-28, Apiline White's kill and then a White service ace closed it out. Gilmore had eight kills on .583 hitting, and White added five kills on .571 hitting plus the closing ace for 6.5 points. Katelyn Eichert ran the offense with 11 assists, and Tiia Heikkinen added six. Isabella Deantoni and Alie Coleman each went 6-for-6 from the service line. Ava Livolsi went 4-for-4 serving, had five digs and passed seven balls without a reception error, and White passed 12 balls without a reception error. The Griffins hit .298 in the set, sided out at 75 percent and had 18 digs.
Set Two
Westminster won the second set 25-20, taking the lead for good at 17-16. A 4-0 run from 19-19 to 23-19 broke it open, with two Gilmore kills, a White kill and a Livolsi ace, and Kanoe Haneberg's kill ended it. Gilmore hit .500 with seven kills, Jocelyn Grieser hit .667 with four kills, and Haneberg also had four kills. Coleman hit .500 with three kills and went 2-for-2 serving. Eichert had 10 assists and went 5-for-5 serving, Heikkinen added six assists and went 4-for-4 serving, Livolsi had nine digs, an ace and went 7-for-7 serving, and Deantoni had six digs and went 3-for-3 serving. As a team, the Griffins went 24-for-24 from the service line, hit .296 and had 24 digs.
Set Three
Westminster led from start to finish in the third set, with no ties or lead changes in a 25-11 win. Heikkinen served three aces in a four-point stretch to make it 8-2, and an 11-0 run from 8-4 to 19-4 pushed the lead to 16 at 21-5. White served the final 10 points of that run, including an ace, and Haneberg had three of his four kills in it, hitting .800 for the set. Heikkinen finished the set with four assists and three aces, Eichert and White each served an ace for five aces as a team, and Deantoni went 3-for-3 serving. Kyra Mahler added a solo block, and the Griffins hit .304 with nine kills, nine digs and three team blocks.
GRIFFIN PERFORMANCES
Elsa Gilmore led Westminster with a match-high 17 kills, hitting .517, and added four block assists for a match-high 19.0 points. White had eight kills, two aces, 11 digs and 10.5 points, Jocelyn Grieser had 10 kills and 10.5 points, and Haneberg had nine kills on .368 hitting for 9.5 points. Coleman added five kills and three block assists while going 10-for-10 from the service line, and Mahler had two kills, a solo block and four block assists.
Katelyn Eichert had a match-high 22 assists, an ace and seven digs, and Heikkinen had 16 assists, three aces and four digs. Libero Ava Livolsi had a match-high 15 digs, eight assists, an ace and went 12-for-12 from the service line. Deantoni had 10 digs, went 12-for-12 serving and passed 11 balls without a reception error.
As a team, Westminster finished with 51 kills, 49 assists, seven aces and 51 digs, serving at a .937 clip and passing at a .947 clip, and out-blocked Chadron State 8.0 to 5.0.
UP NEXT
Westminster returns home Friday to host South Dakota Mines.
REMAINING SCHEDULE
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Friday, Nov. 6 — vs. South Dakota Mines, 6 p.m. MT (Behnken Field House, Salt Lake City)
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Saturday, Nov. 7 — vs. Black Hills State University, 4 p.m. MT (Behnken Field House, Salt Lake City) — Senior Day
