SALT LAKE CITY — Westminster volleyball battled South Dakota Mines on Friday night at Behnken Field House, falling 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 22-25) in an RMAC match that featured 26 ties and 13 lead changes.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Set One
The opening set had nine ties and five lead changes. A 4-0 run from 3-5 to 7-5 put Westminster in front, and the Griffins led by as many as four (15-11) before the set was tied at 20, 21 and 22 down the stretch. Apiline White served an ace and had three kills on .375 hitting, Alie Coleman hit .667 with two kills and a block assist, and Elsa Gilmore and Jocelyn Grieser each had three kills. Kyra Mahler had a kill and a solo block, and Kanoe Haneberg added a kill and a block assist. Tiia Heikkinen had seven assists, and Katelyn Eichert had four while going 4-for-4 from the service line. Ava Livolsi served an ace, had six digs and passed eight balls without a reception error, and Isabella Deantoni passed five without a reception error and had four digs. The Griffins hit .289 in the set with 13 kills, 21 digs and two aces.
Set Two
Westminster took a 3-1 lead on a Heikkinen ace, ripped off three straight points from 4-4 to 7-4 and led again at 11-8. The Griffins went 22-for-22 from the service line in the set. White hit .455 with five kills, Gilmore added five kills on .364 hitting, and Grieser had two kills and a solo block, while Coleman and Haneberg each added a solo block. Eichert had eight assists and six digs and went 4-for-4 serving, Heikkinen had four digs and went 4-for-4 serving, Coleman also went 4-for-4 serving, and Livolsi added four assists. Deantoni passed seven balls without a reception error. Westminster hit .244 as a team with 21 digs.
Set Three
The third set was a seesaw with 13 ties and seven lead changes. A 4-0 run from 13-16 to 17-16, capped by a Haneberg kill, put Westminster in front, and back-to-back Coleman kills, both set by Heikkinen, made it 19-17. Coleman hit .714 with five kills, Grieser and White each had three kills, and Mahler had two. Heikkinen ran the offense with eight assists, had seven digs and went 6-for-6 from the service line, and Eichert added four assists. Livolsi had nine digs, and Deantoni went 4-for-4 serving. The Griffins totaled 24 digs in the set.
GRIFFIN PERFORMANCES
White led Westminster with a match-high 11 kills, an ace and 10 digs for a match-high 12.0 points, hitting .296. Coleman hit .500 with eight kills, a solo block and a block assist for 9.5 points. Gilmore had nine kills and Grieser had eight kills and a solo block, each for 9.0 points. Mahler had four kills and a solo block, and Haneberg had three kills, a solo block and a block assist.
Heikkinen had a match-high 17 assists, an ace and 13 digs, and Eichert had 16 assists and 11 digs. Libero Livolsi had a match-high 19 digs, eight assists and an ace, and Deantoni added eight digs.
UP NEXT
Westminster closes out the season Saturday at 4 p.m. MT, hosting Black Hills State University on Senior Day at Behnken Field House.
