Box Score In a preview of the conference tournament, the Webster University volleyball team beat Westminster College, 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18) Wednesday (Nov. 6) in Fulton.
 
The same two teams square off Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. The match is 4 pm at Greenville, Ill. If Webster wins, the championship match follows at 7 pm that night.
 
Webster is aiming to win the SLIAC championship for the third consecutive year and the seventh time in eight years. The tournament winner receives the SLIAC's automatic berth for the NCAA Division III national tournament.
 
This is the second time this season Webster has beaten Westminster. The Gorloks prevailed in five sets in a home contest Sept. 18. Tonight, Webster improved its record to 24-8 overall, one win away from the school record set in 2007.
 
Webster finishes the regular season with a 16-2 record in conference play, good for second place. This is the third time the Gorloks have ever won 16 conference matches in a season.
 
Junior Jenny Howard (Florissant, MO / Duchesne), limited this season by injury, turned in her most productive match of the season. She tallied a season high 17 points, thanks to a season-high 17 kills (.357 hitting) and 16 digs. This is her sixth match of the season with 10 or more kills. Her season high for kills in 2012 was 16, also against Westminster. Her career high for kills in a match is 18, set in 2011.
 
Junior Sam Kersting (St. Louis, MO / Lindbergh) led the team with 17.5 points by registering 14 kills, three solo blocks and one assisted block. This is Kersting's fourth consecutive match, 17th this season, with 10 or more kills. She has more kills (317), solo blocks (63) and total blocks (149) this season than last season when she was named to the All-America third team. She needs three more block assists to equal her total from 2012. Kersting is second in the nation in blocks in this week's NCAA statistical report, 41st in hitting percentage, and 81st in points scored.
 
Freshman Katie O'Toole (St. Louis, MO / Lutheran South) compiled 30 digs, the third time she has reached that plateau this season.  This is her seventh match with at least 20 digs and 18th match with double-figure digs. O'Toole remains on pace to finish with the third-best dig average in school history and has moved into 17th place in the Webster record book for most digs in a season.
 
Junior Jordan Vehlewald (Wildwood, MO / Lafayette) added 21 digs, her second-highest total this season. She had 23 digs against Redlands Oct. 19. Vehlewald is 21 digs away from matching her personal-best season total, set in 2012.
 
Webster had a team total of 78 digs, its fifth highest of the season, and third highest in a four-set match.