ESCONDIDO, Calif.— The Cal State San Marcos women's volleyball program is no stranger to pulling off big upsets, but for the first time in school history the Cougar faithful at Escondido High School got to be a part of it. The Cougars knocked off previously unbeaten and No. 9 ranked Westmont in a fast-paced thriller 25-27, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 for their first ever home victory over a ranked opponent.

Taylor DeGraaf was seemingly everywhere for the Cougars, tallying 21 kills and 19 digs while committing just three errors in 59 attempts (.305 hitting percentage.) Middle hitter-turned-libero Kelli McLin added a career best 24 digs and was nearly flawless in shutting down the Westmont attack, which hit just .106 against the Cougars. On the other end, CSUSM hit .223 as a team, sparked by a career best and breakthrough performance from Markisha Henderson-Diaz (10 kills, four blocks, .444 hitting percentage).

"I'm proud of our determination and composure tonight," said head coach Andrea Leonard. "We had several players step up and be key contributors. Our goal is to continue to march up the stairs to peak at the end of the season, and tonight we took a big step."

CSUSM's win over a ranked opponent was the first of the season.  In the Cougars three year history, the Cougars have now knocked off 10 NAIA Top-25 opponents, including six in the top-10. The last victory CSUSM had over a ranked opponent was a three-set sweep of No. 6 The Master's College in the NAIA National Tournament.

The match didn't start out so promising for Cal State San Marcos, as Westmont jumped out to a commanding 18-10 lead in the first set. However, fueled by a 10-2 run, the Cougars evened the score at 20 before committing three service errors in four attempts. Still, the Cougars held set point twice before ultimately dropping the set 27-25, leaving a sinking feeling reminiscent of recent close encounters the Cougars have had against top opponents like No. 1 Concordia or No. 4 Biola this season.

It didn't start out much better in the second set, as CSUSM lost seven of the first 11 points. But from that point on, the Cougars could seemingly do no wrong, essentially limiting their mistakes and making Westmont have to beat them. Over the course of a 21-9 run to close out the set, CSUSM recorded 14 kills without an attack error, and ended up hitting .406 overall on the set.

Having tasted some success and with the crowd re-energized, CSUSM raced out to a 20-11 lead in the third set and never looked back, winning 25-19 and setting up a fourth set for the Cougars to close it out.

With Alyssa Foster serving, the Cougars maintained control and took the first six points of the fourth set. However, despite holding a 16-9 lead, the Warriors came back fighting and regained the lead 19-18, aided by six Cougar attack errors.

But when push came to shove, it was the Cougars who came through in the clutch, winning the final three points after a CSUSM timeout with the Warriors up 23-22. Henderson-Diaz tied the game with a quick kill off the serve, and Taylor DeGraaf closed out the match with a pair of well placed kills to send the bench rushing on to the court in a frenzy.

Not to be lost in the mix of big contributions of many throughout the match was the play of Brittany Esposito. The sophomore from Temecula was the server for several long Cougar rallies, and totaled eight digs, four assists, and two service aces on the match. "It doesn't show in the stat column, but she makes everyone around her better," said Leonard.

Alyssa Foster was a key for CSUSM, as always, with her precise setting and all-around play. She threatened recording a triple double on the match with a game-best 43 assists, eight digs, and six kills. Freshman Rachel Hadley also came through for the Cougars with a career best 12 digs and four kills. Additionally, Kelli McLin picked up at least 21 digs for the third time in her five matches as a libero. The junior from Huntington Beach had played up front as a blocker and attacker for all of her previous three seasons at CSUSM until a win over Hope International last Friday.

With the win, CSUSM improves to 15-7 on the season, while Westmont drops to 12-1. The Cougars will have two more home games this week as they host UC Merced on Friday at 7:00 pm and William Jessup on Saturday at 1:00pm.