GROWING PAINS

By Brandon Petersen

It's never easy when you know you're good enough, but you can't quite get over the hill.

That's where the Westcliff women's volleyball team finds itself currently.

Clearly, this is not the team that struggled a year ago, but the results have yet to come in consistently.

Friday at Momentous, the Warriors fell 25-15, 25-20, 25-15 to their old Cal Pac rival Benedictine Mesa.

Yes, it was another loss, but head coach Greg Wakeham said it was the first time this season the group truly played as a unit from start to finish.

"Ben U, they executed really well. I mean, everything. The setter's really good. The middles, they all do their job really well," Wakeham said. "This is our first game where we think the team feels like they played as a unit all the way through.

"So I think that's positive for the next few weeks. Amanda's here. We have everybody playing. So it should be good. We have two more games tomorrow, so that'll be fun. But I think they had a lot of fun today. Ben U is something that's really good."

Samantha Carelock led the Warriors with nine kills and added a service ace, while Joliayns Roman contributed five kills and 17 digs to anchor the defense.

Setter Amanda Ferreira, back in action, tallied 13 assists in two sets, giving Westcliff an added spark.

Serena Comer continued her steady two-way play, finishing with three kills, 10 digs and a block.

Despite the loss, Wakeham emphasized that the Warriors' ability to find rhythm against one of the NAIA's most organized teams bodes well moving forward.

Westcliff will return to the court Saturday for two more matches as the early season grind continues.

 The Warriors will face both Life Pacific and Caltech at the former's home gym. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.