Saylor Halvorsen wouldn’t be stopped.
The junior pin hitter and reigning Ventura County Star Women Volleyball Participant of the 12 months smashed ball after ball into the hardwood as she amassed 22 kills to steer Thousand Oaks Excessive to a 25-19, 25-22, 25-17 sweep over visiting Westlake on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
“I received my momentum,” Halvorsen stated. “I used to be like, ‘Let’s get this over with.’ ”
She strung collectively three straight kills halfway via the third and last set to halt a Westlake comeback and put Thousand Oaks up 16-12, then got here up large once more on the ultimate level, hammering down the deciding kill of the match.
Fellow exterior hitter and fellow BYU commit Halle Bryce was the second half of the Lancers’ two-headed monster above the web with 11 kills and three solo blocks. The duo mixed for 33 of their workforce’s 42 complete kills. Halvorsen additionally completed with a team-high 11 digs.
Setters Aella Keays (17 assists) and Savannah Tung (15 assists) put the ball the place it wanted to be.
“They have been capable of put the ball away,” Thousand Oaks head coach James Park stated of his workforce's dynamic hitting duo. “So long as the ball is excessive, they can swing. Even after a number of blocks they have been capable of put the ball away, as a result of they have been hitting the ball excessive above the block.”
The victory was very important for the Lancers, who improved to 24-8 on the season and 4-4 within the Marmonte League, as they vie for the league’s third and last CIF-Southern Part automated playoff bid.
Westlake (9-10, 3-5 Marmonte) had defeated the Lancers in 5 units Sept. 17 and entered the match tied within the league standings. The Warriors must defeat each of their subsequent two opponents to complete about .500 and qualify for an at-large bid to the postseason.
“Till I give up, which gained’t occur till we’re out, they gained’t cease,” Westlake head coach Brendan Keane stated. “I feel we nonetheless have a terrific probability. It is going to take slightly little bit of luck and slightly little bit of perfection.”
Westlake will face Newbury Park on the highway Oct. 8 and can host Oaks Christian on Oct. 13.
The Warriors protection stored them within the match early, because of sturdy blocking on Halvorsen and Bryce and a again row that stored the ball off the hardwood. Keane credited his workforce’s preparation for his or her potential to dam the Lancers’ future NCAA Division I hitters so successfully early on.
“Our job is to bend,” Keane stated. “They’ll take factors as they may — they’re extraordinarily proficient — however our job is to sluggish them down as soon as a rotation. That’s all we have to do to go on a number of runs.”
Keane stated exterior hitter Taylor Daley and libero Mikayla Washington have been key to igniting the runs that stored Westlake battling late into aggressive units with Thousand Oaks.
“As quickly as they make a play, we’re again,” Keane stated. “The lights flicker again on.”
Westlake was tied, 23-23, within the second set earlier than kills from Bryce and Halvorsen iced the 25-23 win for Thousand Oaks.
Scoring got here from Daley (5 kills, two aces), sophomore center Payton Gross (4 kills) and oppo Maya Yung (4 kills, two blocks). Freshman Eva Shibel was known as up from JV to fill in for a sick participant and gave the Warriors glorious rotations within the center, ending with three kills and three block assists.
The match was the second to final time Park will coach in his dwelling gymnasium. After 21 consecutive seasons main the Lancers, the veteran coach instructed The Star he plans to step down on the finish of this season.
“He makes it so enjoyable,” Halvorsen stated of Park. “We really feel decided to win. It being his final yr, we simply wish to do effectively for him in order that he goes out with a bang.”
Dominic Massimino covers volleyball for The Star. He could be reached at dominic.massimino@vcstar.com. For extra protection, comply with @vcsdominic on Twitter and Instagram.
This text initially appeared on Ventura County Star: e