Taking the court for their first district game of the season, the varsity women’s volleyball team played their first game at home against the Vandegrift Vipers on Tuesday, Aug. 27. The Warriors fought hard through every set but unfortunately lost in just three sets. The first set started the game off with lower energy from the team and the fans, but as they got deeper into the game, the gym roared with support from teammates, parents, and friends all watching. 

“We really just view [a mistake] as a challenge instead of ‘oh, I just messed up,’” Chloe Paddock ‘25 said. “Having a positive mindset helps a lot, at least for me, and I think cheering as loud as we can for any point that we win or any good pass.”

The first set started slow with the Warriors losing the first point and after a couple minutes Westwood was forced to call a timeout after a quick 7-0 run from the Vipers. After Vandegrift scored their tenth point of the set, Harper Zoll ‘25 decided to take action into her own hands, hitting a powerful spike to put Westwood on the board. After a few solid aces, the Warriors held the score at 5-18 when they called their timeout to try and find their next game plan. After the timeout, Zoll brought the fire with more strong hits. Although the Warriors fought hard, the set went to Vandegrift with an end score of 11-25.

“After I get a kill, I really fire myself up,” Zoll said. “Like ‘hey, we got the energy’. Sometimes I’m thinking ‘Okay, balls down. It’s on our hands. Let’s keep going. Let’s go and roll.’”

Bursting out of the huddle, the Westwood Warriors were determined to turn the game around, scoring the first two points back-to-back. Ava Moncada ‘25 and Grace McCluskey ‘26 worked together at the net to support their teams with key blocks throughout the whole second set to keep the Warriors in play. Unfortunately, the Warriors didn’t stay up for long as the game closed in and the score was tied seven all with Vandegrift soon gaining a two-point lead, making the score 8-10. After a few back-and-forth points, Westwood pulled through and managed to tie the set again due to clutch blocks by Paddock, bringing the score to 14 all. Soon the set came to a head as both teams began to tire, however, a game-shifting block by McCluskey brought the set to 19-18, with Westwood retaking the lead. Both teams fought hard to end the set, but ultimately Vandergift came out on top for the win in the second set 25-23.

The gym buzzed as the Warriors took the court for their last set, starting it off with a spike from Moncada, giving Westwood the first points of the third set. Although the Lady Warriors had strong plays throughout, Vandegrift began to pick up on the pace, blocking most of Westwood’s attempts, soon forcing a timeout to re-strategize. Soon after the huddle, Tate McCarthy ‘25 took the court, spiking the ball cleanly through the Viper defense, filling her teammates with energy to finish out the set. This energy carried on for the next few points leading Westwood to a 5-0 run. However, Vandegrift soon matched that energy and was able to pull through and blaze ahead for the win, ending the final set 25-23.

“[Vandegrift] is a pretty strong team,” Dakota Hodge ‘26 said. “I think that we played really well with our blocking, and our defense was pretty good too.”

The Warriors will play their next game at home on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at 6:30 p.m. against the Hutto Hippos.