ALMOST FINISHED

By Brandon Petersen

The Westcliff women's volleyball team is tired of knocking on the door.

The Warriors battled Hope International through five sets on Wednesday at Momentous Sports Center, but came up just short in a 3-2 decision that could have gone either way.

Westcliff (1-5) opened strong with a 25-16 win in the first set, then took the third set 25-23 to force the match the distance.

Hope (4-3) held on in the fifth, 15-12, and even though they're tired of hearing it, it's another solid sign of progress for the Dubs as the Cal Pac season nears.

Simpson, Westcliff's strongest league opponent, was swept by Hope.

"Another fun, super-hot match in the industrial oven we like to call Momentous," head coach Greg Wakeham said. "The girls played a hell of a game, obviously, anytime you go five sets it's going to be a fantastic effort. It could have gone either way, two or three plays down the stretch one way or the other way, and we have a W instead of an L."

Sam Carelock was Westcliff's player of the match, finishing with 16 kills and 7 service aces — just one shy of the all-time program record. She added three blocks in a performance that sparked the team throughout the afternoon.

Wakeham praised the depth across the roster, highlighting the defensive work of libero Daniela Sandoval (23 digs) and Joliayns Roman (13 kills, 17 digs). Setter Lauren Phinnessee kept the Warriors in rhythm with 38 assists, while Serena Comer was a steady two-way presence, posting eight kills and 22 digs while rotating across multiple roles.

"Sam continues to be our emotional lightning rod," Wakeham said. "Danny and Joliayns continue to anchor our defense. Rena gets to play all over the place and our setting is only getting better. It's been fun to watch. Now we're getting to the point where we're tired of talking about how cute it is that we're competitive, and we want to start earning wins."

The Warriors will get another chance quickly, as old Cal Pac rival BenU comes calling Friday.

It will be another piping hot contest at The Oven.

First serve cooks up at 4 p.m.