Volleyball: Valiant Effort Comes Up Short as Westwood Falls to Top-Ranked Bellingham

September 26, 2025

Westwood showed incredible grit and heart, trading blows with Division 3’s top-ranked Bellingham on Friday night, before falling in four sets.
 
Westwood played from behind for most of the first set. Veronica Reeves made two unpredictable and unexpected plays. Shortly after she scored on an over-the-head shot with her back to the net to draw the Wolverines within two at 12-10, the squad responded by winning four straight points with Mia Steinmetz serving. Moments later, Reeves hammered a ball over the net which was blocked so quickly it ricocheted immediately back off her head. The shot off Reeves’ head hit the court untouched to give Westwood a 24-20 lead. Samara Maroun, playing libero, laid out for a number of one-armed digs to keep points alive, and the set was won 25-22 when Bellingham served long.
 
Both teams played well in the second set and each controlled the lead for a period of time. Early in the set, Tav Lodovico kept a point alive with an incredible dig that Lulu Fenton finished off with a kill. With her team trailing 11-7, Westwood coach JC Whalen called timeout, and from there the Wolverines won 10 of the next 14 points to take a 17-15 lead. Among the top plays in that run was a block, followed by a kill from Reeves and a powerful kill from Fenton. Bellingham responded with a 10-4 run and benefited from a pair of aces delivered by Mia Milani and took the second set 25-21.
 
Set three saw the scored tied nine separate times, and both teams led for stretches. Narintra Kamolratanapiboon, Fenton and Haily Chen each delivered kills, and Westwood led 20-19 when Bellingham called timeout. The Hawks scored four straight and never looked back, taking the set 25-21.
 
With momentum on its side, Bellingham rode the wave of emotion from the home crowd and took control of the fourth set, which was tied eight times. The Blackhawks outscored the Wolverines 10-4 after it was knotted 8-8 and weren’t challenged again. Val Nolan made a number of impressive plays at the net for Bellingham and Sophia Soto came up with the pancake of the match as she laid out with one arm outstretched to extend a point and fire up the crowd.
 
Westwood falls to 6-3 with the loss and returns to action Monday against Norton. Bellingham improves to 8-1 and remains atop the TVL Small.
 
JV Barnburner
 
The JV matchup between Westwood and Bellingham was intense, with the match extending to extra points in the third set. Both teams had match-point opportunities, and the Blackhawks prevailed when a match-point serve hit the net and dropped in front of the Wolverines front-liners to secure an 18-16 set victory.
 

Bellingham 3, Westwood 1