SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Vanguard women's volleyball team saw its nine-match winning streak halted in a four-set loss to Westmont on Tuesday evening at Calvary Chapel High School.
The Warriors won by scores of 25-20, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22 to unseat the Lions from first place in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Lions (18-6, 8-2) now trail the Warriors (15-4, 9-2) by a half game in the standings.
The Lions struggled in serve-receive for long stretches as Westmont tallied 11 service aces. VU hit .221 for the match, while Westmont checked in at .233.
Adeline Galvanoni (FR/Chandler, AZ) had a solid match, hitting .346 with a team-best 10 kills for VU. Fellow freshman Delaney Hill (FR/Foothill Ranch, CA) also played well with nine kills on .389 efficiency. Hailey Petersen (SR/Omaha, NE) finished with nine kills and three blocks.
Cambria Fernandez (SR/Northridge, CA) and Morgan Cole (FR/Bakersfield, CA) posted eight kills each, with Cole adding a match-high 18 digs.
Jessica Yamamoto (SO/Aiea, HI) tallied 13 digs. Madeline DeLucia (JR/Happy Valley, OR) and Rachel Lim (SO/La Palma, CA) handed out 24 and 22 assists, respectively.
The Warriors got balanced contributions with three players in double figures in kills as Lexi Malone's 13 led the charge, followed by 12 from Jessie Terlizzi and 10 from Phoebe Minch. Minch also had a match-best six service aces.
What Happened?: The first set featured a couple of early big runs. Westmont scored six straight points to open up a 7-1 lead, but the Lions fired right back with eight in a row to take a two-point advantage and force a Warrior timeout.
Trailing 12-10, the Warriors scored seven of the next eight points and Taylor Distelberg's kill forced a VU timeout as the Lions trailed 17-13. The break in action worked as VU emerged from the huddle with four straight points, two on Petersen putaways.
Now tied at 17-17, Westmont pieced together a pair of three-point runs sandwiched around another Petersen kill for VU, opening up a 23-18 lead. That was too much for VU to overcome as Terlizzi sealed the deal with a kill and a 25-20 victory.
The two teams worked through eight ties to reach a 10-10 stalemate in set two. A VU service error started a 4-0 Westmont run that culminated with a Lion attack error. Hill and Galvanoni responded with kills, and Galvanoni teamed with Payton Darm (SO/San Juan Capistrano, CA) for a block to help the Lions knot the score at 14-14.
Both teams exchanged spurts as Westmont scored four straight to go up 18-14, only to watch VU answer with three in a row, including kills from Fernandez and Galvanoni that cut the deficit to one.
But the Warriors went on a 5-1 run to lead 23-18 and appeared in control. The Lions had other ideas though and Krueger's attack error brought VU within 23-21. Following a Westmont timeout, Krueger brought the Warriors to set point with a kill.
However, VU brought the large contingent of Blue and Gold fans to their feet with inspired play. Back-to-back kills from Hill tied the score at 24-24. The score remained tied at 25-25, then Cole and Galvanoni clubbed consecutive kills as VU took the 27-25 win.
The Lions got off to a solid start in set three, leading 10-5 on another Galvanoni kill. But as was the case throughout the match, big scoring runs did the damage as Westmont's 7-1 run resulted in a 12-11 lead. Malone got hot during that stretch with three kills.
The Warriors ultimately extended the run to 16-2 as back-to-back Terlizzi kills opened up a 21-12 bulge. The Lions kept fighting and narrowed the gap to two, 24-22. But Distelberg prevented any further damage as her kill handed Westmont the 25-22 set three win.
A back-and-forth battled ensued in set four as eight ties resulted in an 8-8 deadlock. However, Minch jump started a 5-0 run with a kill and the Warriors suddenly led 12-8. The Lions slowly chipped away and cut the gap to 17-16 on DeLucia's ace.
The Lions regained their first lead since 8-7 as three straight points, culminating with a Lim ace, gave VU the 21-20 advantage. However, Westmont scored five of the final six points to earn the 25-22 victory. The contest ended in unusual fashion as on match point, Vanguard was called for being out of rotation.
Why Is It Important?: VU dropped its ninth straight match to Westmont, dating back to the 2019 season.
What's Next?: The Lions hit the road for a pair of matches this weekend in Northern California, beginning on Friday at Menlo. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.
