Jackson, MS 9/21/2023- The Westminster College volleyball team made a stop in Jackson, Mississippi on Thursday before the start of SLIAC play on Saturday. The Blue Jays would face off against the Belhaven University Blazers in the last game on their non-conference schedule. The Jays would dominate the first set 25-14 and win the match 3-1 (25-14,25-22,26-24 and 25-17). Westminster improves to 3-7 on the year and Belhaven falls to 2 and 11.
The Blue Jays would set the tone of the match early on, winning the first set decisively, 25-14. The Blazers would respond and then make the next two sets highly contested. Westminster would win set two, 25-22. Belhaven would win the third set 26-24 to avoid being swept. The Blue Jays would win the fourth set 25-17 and take the match three sets to one.
Sophomore middle Meghan Nolte had her biggest game of the season, leading the Blue Jays in kills with 15 and had 2 blocks. Malena Bixby would have another double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. Her sixth double-double of the season and her third game in a row doing so. Westminster was very solid on defense with four different Blue Jays having double-digit digs. Libero Kirsten Schrader led the way with 14. Braylee Montgomery had 35 assists for the Jays and had 13 digs.
Freshman Haylie Schnake and Gracie Henrikson would both have three service aces in the match, making up six of the eight that Westminster had.
The Blue Jays gained some momentum before the start of conference play. They start the SLIAC season versus Mississippi University for Women (MUW) and Spalding University on September 23rd in the MUW Tri-Match. The Blue Jays will face the Owls at 10:00 AM and then the Golden Eagles at 12:00 PM.
