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Marquette Tragically Ends Volleyball’s Season

The Westminster girls’ volleyball team’s season came to a close today as they lost in the district semifinals 17-25 and 25-27 in an epic showdown between two terrific teams.

In the first set, Westminster had to play catch up from the get-go, and it eventually caught up to them as they were just down too many to come back. After the initial points to get ahead 23-13, Westminster appeared to be making a comeback bid as they scored 4 straight points with some incredible diving receptions, but Marquette scored the next 2 to make the second set do or die.

After the first, Westminster went on the attack from the get go, scoring 6 straight as a result of some stellar serving from junior Jordan Hauesser. This put Marquette on the defensive, and they answered well in their own right, bringing the score to 9-6.

The Cats quickly responded, and star junior Madeline Williams recorded a kill, one of her 5 on the night, in a series of points to push their lead to 12-8.

The next couple of points were fun to watch, as both sides battled back and forth, with the highlights being a number of dives to prevent kills by defensive specialists Emma Gustafson, sophomore, and Samantha Huber, junior. Unfortunately, Marquette ended up on the winning side of a few of these battles, bringing the Cats lead to 1 with a score of 13-12.

The Wildcats battled back to again push their lead to 4, with another kill by Madeline Williams, making the score 19-15. That kill may have been the most dominant play of the game, as Williams hit the ball right between two defenders, and the ball came at them way too fast for them to react.

Marquette called a timeout, and their own star junior Hallie Sigman got to Westminster with a number of kills, allowing Marquette to obtain their first lead of the game with the score at a near deadlock: 21-20.

Westminster refused to give up their lead for long, as they battled back with key kills by junior Hilary Hightower, who finished with 4 kills, and fellow junior Avery Engelmeyer, who finished with a team-high 6. These kills pushed the Cats one point from a third set, with the score at 24-21.

Marquette struck back, tying the game at 24 apiece. Williams had her final kill of the night to make the Cats 1 point away from forcing the third set. It was not to be, however, as two straight points were awarded on back-to-back double contact fouls on Westminster to give Marquette a one point lead. A kill by the Mustangs sealed the deal, and the Cats season came to a dramatic close.

Westminster’s volleyball team has a fantastic junior core and will return stronger and hungrier for a district title next season. Great season girls, and congrats on being district semifinalists!