Freshman middle blocker Sami Miller pounded 21 kills and posted a .559 attack percentage as Westmont Volleyball defeated the visiting Royals of Hope International (4-10, 1-7 GSAC) by a score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-15) on Saturday night at Murchison Gymnasium. Fellow middle blocker Katie Sharp posted a .474 attack percentage with 10 kills, giving the Warriors a .528 attack percentage from the middle of the court.

“Sami and Katie did very well in the middle,” noted head coach Jim Smoot. “We tried to go to the middle a lot. Hope (International) adjusted and was committing their left blocker as well as their middle blocker to our middle attack. On their own, our players decided to push, which is like (running) a one but pushed away a little, that helped the hitters find a gap.”

Also contributing to the Warrior kill total was junior right side hitter Stephanie Dunn with ten kills and junior outside hitter Beth Widicus with eight. Freshman setter Kaillee Blair tallied 50 assists in the match.

“Kailee ran the offense very well,” said Smoot. “Beth and Steph also played well with Steph getting some good blocks in the third game.”

Defensively, Stacey Braceros recorded 20 serve receptions and 19 digs while Widicus notched 22 serve receptions and 14 digs. Anna Nyhoff added another 16 serve receptions and contributed seven kills.

“Stacey played great defense,” said Smoot. “Our defense was not just getting the ball up, but making good plays that allowed us to run our offense. Anna also played very well, especially in the first two games.”

The Warriors return to action next weekend with a trip to San Diego. On Friday night, Westmont will play at San Diego Christian in a seven o’clock match and then travel over to Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday for a game at 4:00 p.m.

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