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By Brandon Petersen

The Westcliff women's volleyball team stared down a powerhouse on Tuesday night and didn't blink.

Cal Lutheran came in with a 7–1 record and looked ready to overwhelm the Warriors after cruising through the opening set, 25–12.

But instead of folding, Westcliff dug in and delivered its most resilient performance of the season, rallying to a 3–2 victory at Golden West College (12–25, 25–23, 21–25, 25–23, 15–11).

"We won the games when we were together, and we lost the games when we weren't," head coach Greg Wakeham said. "Cal Lutheran has a really deep, great program. They play hard the whole time, no ups and downs.

"They're a great example of what I'd love for our team to be, so it was nice to compete with them and come away with a win."

The Warriors leaned on their veteran attackers to climb back into the match.

Stacy Folas piled up a match-high 20 kills on 44 swings, while Samantha Carelock was nearly unstoppable, striking for 18 kills at a .378 clip.

Carelock's effort also pushed her into the Westcliff record books — she now owns the program's all-time kills mark, accomplishing the feat in just her second season.

"She was on fire tonight," Wakeham said. "It's a glory position. You're either successful or you're not — there's no gray area. But Sam is just such a Westcliff person. She's dancing all the time, she's having fun, and she plays with joy. It's her world, and we just live in it."

Setter Lauren Phinnessee kept the offense humming with 20 assists, while Amanda Ferreira added 21 of her own. Joliayns Roman supplied balance with 11 kills and 11 digs, while libero Daniela Sandoval anchored the back line with a match-high 23 digs.

After the Regals reclaimed control with a 25–21 win in the third, Westcliff clawed back again in the fourth. Trailing late, the Warriors turned to Carelock and Folas for key points, riding their hot hands to a 25–23 win that forced the decider.

In the fifth, the Warriors left little doubt. They jumped out early and kept the pressure on, finishing the comeback with a 15–11 victory to secure their second straight win and improve to 5–9 on the year.

"As far as our game plan goes, we really did what we were hoping to do," Wakeham said. "We funneled our attack to Stacy and Sam, Sam hit for a great percentage, everybody dug well. It was the kind of game you hope to play, and the kind of strategy we've been working on all along."

Westcliff will now look to carry that momentum into Cal Pac play, beginning next week against Simpson.

"The idea was to go through a lot of grinders before we get to Cal Pac," Wakeham said. "We're not as deep as some of the teams we play, but we're finding solutions, and tonight showed what we can do together."

The first serve of Cal Pac play will go down at Golden West, Friday, Oct. 3^rd at 6 p.m.