With her team down a point midway through the first set against Bowie, senior outside hitter Sydney Yohe sent a strong serve over the net for an ace. Soon after, freshman outside hitter Geralynn Byers-Veal delivered a powerful kill to put the Chaps up 15-13.

“When I go to hit, I just think take their heads off,” Byers-Veal said.

Timely plays like that from a variety of players led the Chaps (23-12) as they took down the Bulldogs (20-16) in three sets at Al Bennett Court Tuesday night on “feed the team night”, where all Westlake athletes in attendance got free food and free entry. Yohe earned 17 kills and Byers-Veal added 13 kills on the Bulldogs.

The first set started back-and-forth before Bowie took a small lead. Senior defensive specialist Vivian Whitfield propped up an out-of-system set to Yohe, who finished the point with a powerful kill to tie the set 8-8.

“I was being a little more smart with the ball,” Yohe said. “I wasn’t just swinging away every time, but I was looking for a shot so we can just keep it on the court.”

The set continued on with rallies between both teams. Both teams hustled, causing a lot of action at the net. Sophomore setter Clayton Kelly and sophomore middle blocker Magdalene Ryan had a double block that put the Chaps up by one point 20-19 and forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout at 21-19.

After exchanging points back and forth, the Chaps took the lead 24-21 and the Bulldogs called another timeout. The Chaps closed the set 25-23 with a strong kill from Byers-Veal.

“Geralynn was hitting so well out of the back row that I kept her in the whole game,” head coach Miguel Saenz said. “She was a big standout.”

The Bulldogs took the lead in the beginning of set two but the Chaps quickly shut them down. Strategic kills from Yohe and Byers-Veal gave the Chaps a five point lead and led Bowie to call a timeout at 12-7.

“I told them to not think of the errors. Just keep moving forward and think of the next play,” Saenz said.

Bowie fought hard and started to push points to make a comeback, but couldn’t gain the lead. Yohe hit a kill down the right side of the court and then went back to serve which resulted in an ace, making the score 18-12. The two teams then exchanged points..

After a strong lead, the Chaps let up a three point run and called a timeout at 21-19. Byers-Veal shut the Bulldogs down immediately after with a block from the outside and from there, the Chaps pushed points to finish off the set. The Chaps took the set 25-21.

“When I block, all I think is ‘just stuff them’,” Byers-Veal said. “I just go up and just stuff the ball.”

Set three started off strong for the chaps with an ace from sophomore setter Kyrksen Cook. After points were exchanged, Yohe tipped the ball into the middle of the court which led to a miscommunication on the Bulldogs side. After a powerful kill from Kelly and a block from Ryan, the Chaps had a 9-4 lead and the Bulldogs called a timeout.

“Just remembering to stay aggressive keeps us going,” Yohe said. “Definitely just keep playing positive and not getting down on each other is really important.”

Byers-Veal then had two more effective kills and an ace which made the Bulldogs call another timeout at 15-7. After the timeout, the Bulldogs stayed in the game. They fought hard and pulled within three points at 19-16 on a block.

“We have to remember that they still can come back,” Yohe said. “We do have to stay on the gas, because that’s happened before, where we’ve been up and then kind of let off.”

The score then became 21-21 which prompted Saenz to call a timeout for the Chaps. After taking a minute to think about their next moves, the Chaps pushed through to the end of the set. The teams had a long rally which ended in a Bowie miscommunication.

Both teams went back and forth but ultimately the Chaps went on a four point streak which led them to take the set 25-21 meaning they won the match.

“We’re using every game to improve. “Tonight, one of the things that we were trying to improve on was setting our middles more, and so we got the balls to the middle a lot more than we have,” Saenz said. “Our communication on defense has been lacking, and tonight was, it was good that they started doing that so slowly but surely, we’re getting a little better each week.”

The Chaps next take on the fifth ranked team in the nation, Cornerstone Christian, Sep. 26 at Al Bennett court. Last year when the two teams played the Chaps fell to Cornerstone.