Senior Lexi Collier snapped two career records in set one of the Westminster volleyball team's match at Fontbonne University on Tuesday, September 29. The Westminster Blue Jays swept Fontbonne, 3-0, to win their fourth straight match. All four match wins have been three set wins. They are now 10-5 on the season and 6-2 in conference play.
Collier broke both the career kills record and the career blocks record in the first set of the match. Heading into the match, she needed just three kills to break the record of 847 and one block to break the record of 269.
The Blue Jays won set one, 25-18. The set stayed close until the Blue Jays had three kills by three Blue Jays and a service ace by junior Kayla Reeg to take a 14-8 lead. Fontbonne tried to close the gap, and three kills brought them within three points, 16-13. Collier put down her third kill of the game to break the career record and give the Blue Jays a five point cushion, 18-13, and a block by Collier and freshman Nikki Testerman gave them a six point lead. The block broke the career record for Collier. Two kills from sophomore Hannah Marshall gave the team the 24-17 lead, and a block by Reeg ended the set with the 25-18 win.
Fontbonne jumped out to an early lead in set two, taking a five point lead, 9-4, and they extended their lead to seven points later in the set, 17-10. The Blue Jays' chances at winning the set looked slim as they trailed 22-16, but a kill by Amanda Kiso started the Blue Jays' seven point rally to take the 23-22 lead. An attack error by Fontbonne gave the Blue Jays the 24-23 advantage, and Testerman put down a kill to win the set, 25-23.
The Blue Jays carried over their rally into the third set as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Fontbonne put down a kill to stop the Blue Jays' streak and end Reeg's serving, but when the Blue Jays got the ball back, Marshall hit three consecutive aces to take a 10-1 lead, forcing Fontbonne to call a timeout. Fontbonne rallied back to get within seven, 14-7, but four kills from three Blue Jays (junior Amanda Kiso, Marshall, freshman Micha Frasher) gave Westminster the 18-7 advantage and forced Fontbonne to call another timeout. Fontbonne grabbed just two more kills in the set while the Blue Jays closed out the match with a 25-9 set three win.
The Blue Jays hit .583 in set three to finish with a .360 hitting percentage in the match. Kiso hit .800 on the night. She put down 12 kills and made no errors on her 15 attempts. Marshall also had 12 kills on the night and finished with four service aces. Reeg recorded 39 assists and 16 digs. Freshman Bridget Ringwald dug 20 balls.
Westminster continues conference play on Saturday, October 3, in New Albany, Ind. The play host Spalding University at 10:00 am and Principia College at 12:00 pm.
