Westminster volleyball picked up its first win of the season on Friday, rallying past Stanislaus State in a five-set thriller at Kitty Magee Arena, 3-2 (19-25, 26-24, 16-25, 25-23, 17-15).
GAME BREAKDOWN
Set One Stanislaus State opened the match with a 25-19 win, but the Griffins still found bright spots: Alie Coleman hit .500, Elsa Gilmore added two kills, and Tiia Heikkinen ran the offense with six assists. Ava Livolsi and Isabella Deantoni combined for four digs in the back row.
Set Two Westminster answered to even the match, winning 26-24. Claire Cook led the charge with six kills on a .556 clip, Elsa Gilmore added three kills, and Kyra Mahler chipped in two kills on a scorching .667 hitting percentage. Tiia Heikkinen ran the attack with seven assists, and Ava Livolsi served two aces to go with Isabella Deantoni's one.
Set Three Stanislaus State took the third set 25-16, but Westminster kept serving with purpose — Nora Elliot, Tiia Heikkinen, Isabella Deantoni and Ava
Livolsi each recorded an ace in the set, and Elliot added a kill on a perfect 1-for-1 showing.
Set Four Westminster answered right back, taking the fourth set 25-23 to even the match at two sets apiece. Claire Cook led with five kills, Jocelyn Grieser added three on a .375 clip, and Clara Philipsson contributed offensively while adding three block assists. Nora Elliot and Ava Livolsi each served an ace, and Tiia Heikkinen ran the offense with seven assists.
Set Five In the decisive fifth set, Westminster closed out the match, 17-15. Claire Cook and Elsa Gilmore each posted three kills, Apiline White added two on a .400 clip, and Jocelyn Grieser and Kyra Mahler each chipped in offensively as well. Clara Philipsson served an ace, and Ava Livolsi anchored the defense with six digs to help seal the Griffins' first win of the season.
GRIFFIN PERFORMANCES Claire Cook turned in a career-shaping performance, leading Westminster with 19 kills on a .250 clip to go with 10 digs and a match-high 20.0 points. Elsa Gilmore added 11 kills on a .263 clip, Apiline White chipped in nine kills, and Kyra Mahler posted five kills on a strong .364 hitting percentage. Setter Tiia Heikkinen orchestrated the offense with a match-high 30 assists, and libero Ava Livolsi was outstanding across the back row with a match-high 19 digs and a team-high four aces.
As a team, Westminster finished with 54 kills, 49 assists, 10 aces, 64 digs and 16 block assists.
The Griffins will look to continue building on this win with three more games this weekend.
