ST. LOUIS - The Westminster volleyball team defeated Fontbonne in three sets on Wednesday night in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup. The Blue Jays improve to 5-5 on the season and 3-0 in SLIAC play.
In the first set Fontbonne scored the first points before Westminster responded by scoring three consecutive points to make it 4-1. The Griffins answered with a three-point run of their own to tie to the set at 4-4. The teams exchanged points for the next few possessions until a Fontbonne service error gave the Blue Jays a 9-7 lead. Following the service error the Blue Jays rallied to take a 15-7 lead highlighted by a pair of service aces by Natalie Needy. The Griffins were unable to close the gap and Westminster won the set 25-16.
Fontbonne scored first again in the second set and the teams again traded points with no team holding a lead greater than two points. The Blue Jays briefly went up by four points on kills by Teresa Becker and Eryka Wanyonyi to make the score 9-5. The Griffins cut the lead to 9-7 until a Needy kill sparked a rally that put the Blue Jays up 15-7. Wanyonyi and Sarah Rivers were key contributors to the rally, teaming up on two blocks and each recording a kill. Westminster remained in control of the set and won 25-15.
Fontbonne threatened in the third set and the teams were within one point of each other for most of the set. With the Griffins leading 19-18 a service error allowed Westminster to tie the score. Following the error the Blue Jays scored three points thanks to two kills by Wanyonyi and one from Rivers. Becker recorded assists on each of the three kills. The Griffins responded with a kill to make it 22-20 then another service error by Fontbonne put Westminster up 23-20. Wanyonyi recorded a service ace on the next serve and Ashley Kistaitis ended the match with a kill to give Westminster a 25-21 victory to sweep the match 3-0.
Wanyonyi and Kistaitis led the Blue Jays with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Becker and Erica Schrader each recorded eight digs and Becker totaled 39 assists.
The Blue Jays play again on Saturday Sept. 28 against Spalding and Webster at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.in Jacksonville, Ill.
