Westmont Volleyball traveled to Prescott Arizona, and walked away as champions of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagle Volleyball Kickoff. Westmont and Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) both won three of four games in the tournament, but the Warriors defeated the Tigers in head-to-head play.

On Friday evening, Westmont (3-2) defeated host Embry Riddle (Ariz.) 3-1. The Warriors took the first two games 30-16 and 30-24 but lost the third 27-30. Undeterred, Westmont came back in game four to win 30-28.

[stats - vs. Embry Riddle, vs. Concordia, vs. Taylor, vs. Olivet Nazarene]

Westmont Men’s Soccer traveled across town Saturday night to take on the #4 Santa Barbara Gauchos in the Warrior’s season opener. It was quite a challenging start to the year considering the last time UCSB took the field they were playing Indiana in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. Though losing to the Gauchos 4-3, Westmont had plenty to feel good about.

“I told the guys that in the fifteen years I’ve coached in this game, we have never looked so evenly matched against the Gauchos,” reported Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. I think if you showed up at the stadium without knowing anything about the two teams on the field, you would have thought that this was a pretty close match-up.”

Westmont’s cross country teams are expected to make a significant leap forward this year and folks around the country are beginning to take notice. In this week’s release of the NAIA Preseason Poll, the Westmont men’s team is ranked at number 21 while the women are at number 25. Neither team was ranked last season.

“Both our teams have the potential to qualify for nationals this year,” said head coach Russell Smelley. “These could be the best teams we’ve had in the last seven or eight years,” suggested the hall of fame coach.

The NAIA Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll has been release and Westmont finds itself at number 23. The Warriors, who advanced to the second round of the NAIA Tournament last season before losing 1-0 to the eventual national champion, return nine starters to the 2005 roster.

New to the program is head coach Rebecca Mouw. A four-time NCAA Division III All-American at Wheaton, Mouw brings championship experience to the Warrior program. During her tenure as a student-athlete at Wheaton, the Thunder advance to the elite-eight on three occasions and once to the final four. Mouw served two years as an assistant coach at Eastern (Penn.) before coming to Westmont.

The Westmont Volleyball team fell 3-1 (30-27, 24-30, 30-25, 30-26) to #16 Cornerstone (Mich.) this afternoon in the season opener for both teams. Head Coach Jim Smoot was pleased, however, with the performance of his team. “They played better together better than I expected for this point in the season,” acknowledged Smoot. “They are a great group of women who get along very well together and their team spirit is paying off.”

Senior setter Amber Donovan recorded 65 assists in the contest. “I was very pleased with how hard our team played and how consistent we were for our first match of the season,” said Donovan. “Our team was mentally focused and ready to play. Malinda (Reese) played awesome defense and Kelsey (Voetmann) was very consistent in her hitting.”

[stats]

Westmont Sports Information announces the launch of the redesigned Westmont Athletics Web site. The new site makes improvements in overall usability, includes more in-depth statistical information, and incorporates new dynamic features.

The site, located at www.westmont.edu/sports, has been produced through a collaborative effort between Will Rainbow (web content editor), Greg Smith (webmaster) and Ron Smith (sports information director) and has been in development since April of this year.

Driving the site are three separate databases, which provide for easier Web site maintenance. A content management system is utilized to provide the overall design and structure of the Web site. The databases of the in-game statistical software program StatCrew are used to provide game statistics, as well as career, season and game records for team based sports.