SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Women's volleyball gained ground in set three, but ultimately fell in straight sets against Westmont (15-25, 11-25, 19-25), Wednesday night at the Murchison Gymnasium. The Blue and Gold racked their best hitting percentage since early September at .198 (36-17-96) but could not match Westmont's best hitting percentage in nearly a decade, as the Warriors hit an indomitable .442 for the night. Their best hitting rate since August 2017 and best in the NCAA D2 era.
The Lions drop to 7-17 and 5-12 in the Pacific West Conference. Westmont improves to 14-11, 11-6, taking their sixth win in a row.
What Happened? Vanguard saw a starting lineup change for the first time in nearly a month, seeing captain
Grace McQuoid back among the starting squad and freshman
Maddie Buchberger getting her first career start. It was the usual cast who got the VU scoring underway, however, with four kills split between
Kayla Robinson and PacWest Player of the Week
Meadow Hobbs (6-4 WC). The Warriors started to pull away with a bout of service pressure, as two aces helped open a 7-3 run. McQuoid got rolling in the meantime a trifecta of kills to help the Lions maintain a punchers chance. They also had Raymond step on into rotation to snap three kills and cut the lead down to five (19-14 WC). The set finished with a 6-1 Westmont run, as Vanguard's impressive .444 (14-2-27) rate to kick off the match was erased by the Warriors' game-high .625 (16-1-24) clip.
Set 2 The Warriors never trailed in set two, with their service pressure marking a large dent in VU's struggles. WC won the game overall 10-1in the ace count and dropped five in the second frame to dispatch VU. They also hit .444 (8-0-18) against Vanguard's .000 (9-9-32).
The Warriors opened with a 4-0 run which included two aces.
Haylee Long had two of the first three points from the right pin, but Westmont piled two more aces to mount a 9-1 run and go up by eight (13-4).
Abigayle Gotwals checked on to power a monster slam cross court and
Julia Ringenberg added a setter's dump for a short-lived VU scoring burst, but it was the last of the period as the Warriors dished out another 9-1 run to win the frame 25-11.
Set 3 Though they didn't match their high-flying hitting percentage in set one, Vanguard's best fight with Westmont came in the final frame, splitting nine ties and four lead changes.
The Lions took an early advantage with three WC errors and Robinson kill through the middle to sprout a 4-2 lead.
Haley Langdon was next on the board with a kill on the D-set from
Sarah Wold. The stanza staggered into three successive ties until Westmont jumped ahead with 3-0 run finished off with an ace. McQuoid stepped up with three straight kills and
Kate Fagundes provided VU's only ace of the match as the Lions squeezed out four points unanswered to push them narrowly ahead 12-10.
The VU buffer broke four points later when Westmont opened up 5-0 run for their first lead since the first point of the period (17-15 WC). McQuoid had quickfire kill in response, but the Warriors had the remedy, with an 8-2 trade clinching match-point and the eventual game-sealing kill from the outside.
What's Next? The Lions close the 2026 season at CU Arena against Concordia on Saturday, November 7 at 5 p.m.
