Thousand Oaks Falls to Upstart Westlake

Opposing coaches in the Marmonte League feared before the season that the Westlake High girls’ volleyball team could be a giant-killer. The Warriors proved them right with a 7-15, 15-13, 4-15, 19-17, 15-11 win over Thousand Oaks on Tuesday night at Westlake.

Led by the play in the middle of 6-foot-4 Kari Logan and 5-11 Jennifer Dunn, the Warriors saved five match points in the fourth game and outlasted the Lancers in the fifth game. Logan contributed 11 kills and nine blocks; Dunn added nine kills and 12 blocks.

Westlake (2-1 in league play) also received clutch hitting on the outside from Tari Bentz, who had 15 kills, six coming at crucial times in the fourth game.

“The first couple of games, we made too many mistakes,” Westlake Coach John Streltzoff said. “But once we won the fourth game, it gave us lots of confidence.”

The Warriors blew a 5-2 lead in the fourth game and eventually watched Thousand Oaks take a 14-11 advantage. But Bentz saved one match point with a kill from the strong side and came through for another sideout kill after Westlake closed to 14-12. Dunn pulled Westlake closer with a block to make it 14-13 and a Thousand Oaks hitting error tied it, 14-14.

Thousand Oaks (3-5, 2-1) lost chances to win at 15-14 and 16-15 on a kill by Dunn, a stuff by Logan and a miscue on a set. Westlake finally took the lead on an overset kill by Logan, but had to battle through another tie at 17-17 and five sideouts before sophomore Kristin Lee’s kill and Dunn’s service winner ended it.

“We had them in the fourth and didn’t take advantage,” Thousand Oaks Coach John Bjerke said. “They took it away from us.”

Westlake maintained the momentum and Lee fired a pair of aces to help the Warriors to a 7-0 lead in the final game. Thousand Oaks got as close as 7-5 and 11-9 before Westlake closed out its upset with a kill from Lee, a dink by Logan and two Lee aces.

“I just tried really hard,” said Lee of her serving. “I was just trying to get it over the net.”

Confidence was a big factor for the Warriors, who over the weekend won their own tournament. And an upset win over Thousand Oaks, ranked No. 9 in the Southern Section 5-A Division and No. 14 in the state, should give Westlake even more of a boost. Westlake opened league play last week with a loss to Agoura.

“It builds us up big time,” Lee said. “We have started thinking a lot more on the court and our play has improved.”