Alison Sharp connected for 14 kills and tallied 11 digs, but it wasn’t enough to keep the second-ranked Lancers of California Baptist (15-1, 4-1) from sweeping the Westmont Warriors (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) in Riverside on Tuesday evening. With the loss, Westmont falls to 1-4 in conference play and 7-9 overall.

“We need to realize how close we are to competing with the top ranked teams,” said head coach Jim Smoot. “We need to work on our consistency.”

In the first set, the Lancers jumped out to a 10-5 lead and did not allow the Warriors to get closer than three points. The second set proved to be much closer with neither team leading by more than two at any point in the set. Alison Sharp and Samantha Miller (8 kills) stepped up to record all but two of the Warriors 12 kills.

Down 21-19, Miller and Alison connected for back-to-back kills to tie the set at 21 points each. A kill by Cal Baptist’s Rene Simon (4 kills) was nullified by a bad set on the Lancer’s side of the net, tying the game at 22. Sharp then pounded the ball to the ground to give the Warriors a one point advantage. After a timeout by California Baptist, a Westmont service error was followed by kills from the Lancer’s Noelle Dyk (8 kills) and Fei Shi (15 kills), giving the second set to California Baptist.

The score was tied at five points each in the third set when the Lancers went on a 9-2 run to put the set, and the match, out of reach.

Freshman setter Kailee Blair produced a season high 28 assists for the Warriors while junior defensive specialist Erin Dohm contributed 29 serve receptions and six digs.

The Warriors will travel to Azusa Pacific on Saturday to take on the #16 Cougars (12-4, 2-2) in a 3:00 three o’clock match.

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