Westmont Volleyball took to the floor at Vanguard in Costa Mesa for the opening Golden State Athletic Conference match of the season. Missing from the lineup was senior middle blocker Katelyn Lowry who injured her knee in warm-ups last Friday against San Francisco State. Head coach Jim Smoot called on freshman Sami Miller to take her place in the starting rotation, and Miller responded by recording 11 kills out of 14 attempts with only one error - a .714 attack percentage. Miller also tallied four block assists.

However, the Warriors could not muster enough firepower to tame the thirteenth ranked Lions (6-0, 1-0 GSAC) who won in straight sets 25-19, 25-19, 26-24. With the loss, Westmont fell to a 6-5 overall record.

Westmont fell behind early in both the first and second sets and was unable to makeup the difference, giving Vanguard a two-set-to-none advantage. Early in the third set, Westmont built a 9-3 lead as sophomore Alison Sharp recorded three aces. The Lions succeeded in narrowing the gap a bit, but back-to-back kills by Miller extended the Warriors lead to 20-13, causing Vanguard to call timeout.

Vanguard returned to the floor and recorded three kills in a row - two by Heather DeLongh who notched a match high of 14. The Lions continued their assault, scoring six of the next eight points to tie the game at 22 points apiece.

A Lion attack error restored a one-point lead to Westmont, but Vanguard scored the next two points to take a 24-23 lead and give The Lions an opportunity to serve match point. Westmont’s Laura Trudelle evened the match once more with a kill, but Vanguard scored the next two points to end the contest.

Erin Dohm tallied 18 serve receptions and 11 digs for the Warriors while Kailee Blair and Stephanie Strasner combined for 24 assists.

The Warriors will travel to La Mirada on Saturday where they will compete against #4 Biola at 7:00 p.m.

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