Volleyball’s Season Ends In Semifinals, Lawrence Awarded SLIAC Newcomer of the Year

The Westminster volleyball team faced Webster University for the second time in a span of three days. On Saturday, the Westminster Blue Jays were facing Webster in the Semifinal Round of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournament. The 0-3 loss ended the Blue Jays’ season with a 17-12 overall record.

“We battled hard today against Webster, and Webster fought back just as hard,” commented first year Head Coach Curtis Madson. “It’s always tough to lose when you are that close to the goal, but our ladies know that they gave it their all and worked together all day.”

The Blue Jays held the 12-10 lead in set one over the Webster Gorloks, but the Gorloks went on a 7-1 run to pull the 17-13 lead. The Blue Jays battled to stay in it, but fell 18-25. The Blue Jays were up 15-10 in set two, but the Gorloks pulled another rally to win 25-21. Set three was a back-and-forth set. The two teams were tied at 12-12 before the Gorloks blasted a 13-2 run, ended set three 25-14 and ending the match.

Freshman Riley Lawrence led the Blue Jays with 11 kills and 13 digs. Freshman Amanda Kiso finished the match with 6 kills, no errors and a .353 hitting and kill percentage. Freshman setter Kayla Reeg had 27 asissts.

After the SLIAC Championship match, the SLIAC All-Conference Teams were announced. Lawrence, finishing the season with 353 kills and tying for second in kills per season, was named SLIAC Newcomer of the Year. She was also named SLIAC First Team All-Conference. Sophomore Lexi Collier, breaking the season hitting percentage record with a .366, was also named to the SLIAC First Team All-Conference.

Kiso was named to the Second Team All-Conference. At the end of the season, Kiso is now tied for second in a season’s hitting percentage (.358) and block asssits (79). Named to the Honorable Mention Team is Reeg. After one season, she is now in third place in career assists with 1,048.

“I could not be more proud of what this group accomplished this year, and I can’t wait to see what they are going to do in the future,” said Coach Madson.