Jacksonville, IL 9/2/2022- The Westminster College volleyball team improves to 2-0 on the season after a 3-0 (25-21,25-18,25-18) victory over the Franklin College Grizzlies. The Blue Jays wasted little time getting their second win of the season. After just finishing up a game against Anderson University, they would change courts and face off against the Grizzlies.
Franklin got off to a 4-0 lead and extended it to a 10-4 lead. The Blue Jays battled to even the score at 20 apiece. The Grizzles then committed six straight errors to give the Jays the first set victory 25-20.
The second set was neck and neck at 7-7. Then Westminster scored five points in a row that included back-to-back kills from senior hitter Eryka Wanyonyi (Columbia, Mo. / Hickman) and two straight service aces from senior setter Kate Rable (Saint Peters, Mo. / Fort Zumwalt South) to give them an 11-7 lead. The Blue Jays would extend their lead and close out the second set, 25-18.
Leading two sets to none, the Jays wanted to ensure that the third set was the final one. They looked to be coasting after getting an 8-3 lead. The Grizzles refused to go away quietly and rallied to tie at 15-15 after being down 14-8 before scoring six straight points. Westminster would answer with six straight points of their own, with the Blue Jay front line asserting their dominance. Payton Bledsoe (Mexico, Mo. / Mexico), Malena Bixby (New Berlin, IL / New Berlin), and Wanyonyi combined for four kills, all assisted by the setter Rable. The seniors Bledsoe and Wanyonyi got together for an enormous block to keep the run going. The Blue Jays won the third and final set 25-18.
Wanyonyi had a team-high fourteen kills in the game on twenty-seven attempts. She only committed three hitting errors and had an impressive .407 kill percentage. Not to be outdone, Rable had a team-high thirteen assists and four aces. Freshman Caitlyn Wheadon (St.Charles, MO / Francis Howell North) had ten assists of her own in her second collegiate game. Sophomore defensive specialist Sophie Reimer (St. Charles, MO / Lutheran) had a team-high nine digs.
The Blue Jays will be back in action tomorrow Saturday, September 3rd to play the final two games of the Illinois College Invitational. They take on Monmouth College at 12:30 PM and play the host Illinois College at 2:30 PM.
