The Westminster volleyball team rallied back from a two set deficit to defeat Webster University in five sets, 3-2. Tuesday's victory is the Westminster Blue Jays' 14th consecutive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) win which brings them to 15-2 in conference play. They move to 20-7 on the season, becoming the 11th team in program history to be a 20+ win team and the first since 2001.
The Blue Jays won with the scores 23-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-9.
Webster jumped out to a 5-0 lead in set one and rallied to a 10-2 lead before the Blue Jays called a timeout. The Blue Jays managed two three-point runs that landed them within four points, 14-10. A block by junior Amanda Kiso and freshman Micha Frasher put the Blue Jays within three, and another three-point run with a kill from sophomore Hannah Marshall and a kill from freshman Nikki Testerman brought the game within one point, 18-17. Webster was forced to call a timeout, but they scored the next five points to take the 22-17 lead. The Blue Jays called a timeout to stop Webster's rally, and four consecutive points off a senior Lexi Collier kill and three Webster errors put the Blue Jays back within one to force Webster to another timeout. The Blue Jays came out of the timeout and Testerman aced to tie the game at 23-23, but Webster put down two kills to end the set, 25-23.
Set two was back-and-forth as the lead changed six times and had nine ties as the set hit 12-12. A Blue Jay attack error started Webster's eight point rally to take the 20-12 lead. The Blue Jays were unable to recover and lost the set 25-16.
Webster held the lead for the first nine points in set three, but the Blue Jays were able to tie the lead. They jumped on a four-point run to take the 8-5 lead. A block by Marshall and Kiso put the Blue Jays up by four, 14-10, but a Webster ace and block brought the game within one, 14-13. Webster finally knotted up the game at 18-18, but a kill by Collier quickly ended Webster's hopes. Marshall recorded a kill to take the 21-19 lead and Webster called their first timeout of the set. Coming out of the timeout, Marshall put down another kill to take the 22-19 lead. Kiso recorded a kill, followed by a bad set by Webster, giving the Blue Jays the 24-20 advantage. Webster scored two more before sophomore Natalie Corrigan put down a kill to end the set, 25-22, and revive the Blue Jays' chance at the win.
The fourth set did not start as the Blue Jays had hoped as three errors aided in Webster's quick 4-0 lead. Not long after, Webster had three consecutive errors to tie up the game, 6-6. The game remained close until senior Caroline Will started a four-point run with a service ace. After a kill by junior Kayla Reeg, Webster called a timeout. Webster caught up to the Blue Jays and brought the set within two, 18-16. Two kills by Marshall and a block by Reeg put the Blue Jays back up, 22-17, forcing Webster to call a timeout. Marshall put down another kill to take a six point lead.23-17. A service error by Webster gave the Blue Jays the 24-18 advantage, and Marshall put down her fifth kill of the set to win 25-18 and send the match into the decision set.
Four lead changes and five ties started set five. A kill by Collier gave the Blue Jays the 6-5 advantage, but Webster knotted the set back up at 7-7 with an ace. Webster followed with an service error, and Marshall put down two kills to take the 10-7 lead. Webster came out of their timeout and made three critical errors to give the Blue Jays the 13-7 lead. Marshall grabbed a kill to take the 14-8 lead, and Kiso laid down the final kill to complete set five with a 15-9 win.
Marshall and Collier combined for more than half of the Blue Jays' 51 kills. Marshall led the match with 18 while Collier added 10 to the win.
Reeg assisted 40 kills and led the match with 26 digs. Freshman libero Bridget Ringwald tallied 20 digs and Frasher added 19.
Kiso recorded four blocks on the night.
The Blue Jays take the weekend off from conference play as they head to Rock Island, Illinois on Friday, October 30, for the two-day Pumpkin Bash hosted by Augustana College (Ill.). They play Dubuque (3:00 pm) and Coe (7:00 pm) on Friday, followed by matches versus North Park (10:00 am) and Augustana (12:00 pm) on Saturday.
