Enrique Rupert is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Westwood High School for AZPreps365.com

The Westwood Warriors girls volleyball team remained undefeated at home on Wednesday night as they defeated the Alhambra Lions.

Westwood (7-1) won in straight sets, 25-10, 25-12, 25-12.

The Warriors were led by setter PJ Hayes who had 34 assists. Middle hitter Rachel Porter had 13 kills and three blocks, while outside hitter Arys Palmer chipped in with seven kills and seven assists. 

The winless Lions had a frustrating night, losing their eighth straight match. 

Westwood started the first set strongly with a 15-point run going unanswered. A timeout from Alhambra coach Arsenio Manuel helped gain a point soon after the interval, but they had no answers for the Warriors. 

The Lions got no offense going all night, as most of their points were errors from the Warriors. 

Hayes had 12 assists and seven aces in the first set, while Palmer had five kills. Westwood finished the first set 25-10.

The Lions looked flatfooted against the Warriors’ offense. 

“Our communication skills were off,” Manuel said. “We need to figure out our dynamic early. We have pulled up players from JV and the freshman and sophomore teams and our dynamic just wasn’t there.”

The second set saw more dominance from the Warriors. Hayes, who had 12 assists in the second set noted her performance wasn’t to the best of her standards. 

“I feel like this isn’t the best I’ve ever played,” Hayes said. “I feel like I could’ve pushed myself a lot harder and gotten better plays.” 

Westwood finished set two with six consecutive points to win 25-12. 

The third set was by far Alhambra’s best. Two kills each from Deidrea Tree and Kasandra Padilla helped tame the Warriors to a 9-8 start. While they never had the lead, they kept it close to that point. At 12-9 however, Hayes, Palmer and Porter combined to help the Warriors accumulate a nine-point run en route to a 25-12 victory.

Warriors coach Lindsey Palmer was elated with her team’s performance. 

“We played against a weaker skilled team tonight,” Palmer said, “but we played extremely well so that was really nice to see us just dominate.”

Playing with only two seniors and mostly juniors, the Warriors have exceeded Palmer’s expectations. 

“I think they’ve done really well,” she said. “They've stepped up in their positions and really fight for their positions in a really competitive way with each other. They’ve been really pushing each other so I’ve been happy with them.”