FINALLY!

By Brandon Petersen

The Westcliff women's volleyball team ended its regular season with purpose Friday, turning the page on a tough Thursday loss and closing out the regular season with two wins that could carry them into the postseason.

Westcliff opened the day with a five-set victory over Pacific Union, grinding through early errors to outlast the Pioneers 21-25, 25-17, 25-12, 15-25, 15-12.

Later, they returned to sweep Simpson — the same Red Hawks team that had swept them the night before — 25-17, 25-22, 25-22.

It was the kind of turnaround that spoke volumes about effort, endurance, and belief.

Senior opposite Samantha Carelock delivered one of her best days in a Westcliff uniform, stacking up 23 kills on a blistering .439 hitting percentage in the opener, then following with 15 more against Simpson.

Joliayns Roman added 11 and 14 kills in the two matches, while Serena Comer and Stacy Folas provided steady scoring on the pins.

Setter Amanda Ferreira orchestrated the offense with precision, totaling 42 assists in the five-set win over Pacific Union and 31 more in the Simpson sweep.

Daniela Sandoval anchored the back line with 27 digs against PUC and 16 more against Simpson, while Amaya Ruiz Keovilaysane and Lauren Phinnessee chipped in across serve-receive and transition.

Westcliff head coach Greg Wakeham said both wins showed his team's fight and focus in the face of fatigue.

"Our first game against Pacific Union was extremely intense," Wakeham said. "They came to play — I think that's the best they've played all year. They were fully engaged, super loud, and we had to really focus, especially in the fifth game, to win. Then we had about fifty minutes to get ready to play Simpson.

"They had their Cal Pac champ sweatshirts on during warm-ups, and I think that fired our team up a little bit. We were also pretty concerned about where we are with our conference and whether we'll make the conference tournament or not. We probably have the stats to do it, but we wanted to make sure we put ourselves in position.

"And if we weren't going to make it, we wanted to make sure it was a really good performance in case it was our seniors' last match."

Westcliff's team offense surged when it mattered, posting a season-best .308 hitting percentage against Simpson after sitting below .200 the day before.

The Warriors now await word on whether they'll be selected for the Continental Athletic Conference postseason.

With the Cal Pac lacking enough full participants to host its own playoff, Westcliff and other affiliate members compete under the CAC umbrella for national qualification.

Friday's sweep, and the resilience behind it, may have been the boost they needed.

Stay tuned right here for a potential playoff announcement in the next couple of days.