After winning the first set 25-21 on Tuesday night, #25 Westmont lost the next three sets to #18 Biola (12-6, 3-4 GSAC) in a Golden State Athletic Conference match to fall to 11-6 on the year. The Warriors were led offensively by Beth Widicus and Stephanie Dunn with 11 kills each and Alison Sharp with 10 kills. Dunn also contributed six blocks.

The Warriors struggled with errors, committing 29 attack errors and hitting just .118. Westmont also committed 10 errors from the service line.

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After competing in the hilly terrain and cool air of the Westmont Invitational a week ago, Westmont Men’s and Women’s Cross Country competed on the flat course and in the heat of the Cal State Bakersfield Invitational on Saturday. Not only were the conditions a contrast, but so was the competition as the Warriors battled with Division I schools.

In the women’s 5,000 meters, the Warriors placed three runners in the top 10 and took second place by scoring 48 points. Pepperdine won the event with 21 points while Cal State Bakersfield took third with 72 points. Fresno State finished last with 96 points.

Pepperdine’s Chelsea Wishard (17:45) and Lauren Lodge (17:54) finished first and second but Westmont freshman Danica Rosendale claimed third place with a time of 18:18. Junior Chrissa Trudell claimed eighth place for the Warriors in a time of 18:32 and while sophomore Kate Stuart finished tenth in 18:40. Sophomore Caitlyn Corraro (18:55) and junior Katie Fritzke (19:28) closed out the top five for the Warriors, finishing in twelfth and fifteenth place respectively.

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Playing with extra emotional intensity, Westmont Men’s Soccer opened Golden State Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 win over the Lancers of California Baptist (1-2-3, 0-1 GSAC). The Warriors (3-2, 1-0 GSAC) scored two goals in the seventh minute of play to take control of the game early on.

“I thought it was almost an odd happening,” said Westmont Head Coach Dave Wolf. “Bang, bang and it’s 2-0. It really does change the game a lot. It puts them in chase mode and us in protection mode. There were some long stretches where they were on us and in control of the game. I thought we weathered storms at various points in the evening and then got out from time to time.”

Westmont senior midfielder Hugo Pizano scored the first goal from the right side. Junior forward Daniel Torres made a short pass of a corner kick to Pizano. Pizano shot the ball from 15 yards out and snuck it behind both the Lancer defenders and keeper Jeff Redinger.

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Westmont Women’s Soccer opened Golden State Athletic Conference play with a 2-0 loss to top-ranked California Baptist on Saturday at La Playa Stadium. The Lancers (8-0-1, 1-0 GSAC) scored a goal in each half to claim the victory. The loss gives the Warriors an overall record of 2-3-1.

“We never really got much going until maybe the last ten minutes,” acknowledged Westmont Head Coach Dave Wolf. “Their physical qualities are a lot better than ours. The big difference in the game was Kylee Nicassio. She scored the first goal and had good mobility and power. I think we defended pretty well, but not well enough to keep them off the board.”

Nicassio scored in the thirty-fourth minute off a corner kick from Joanna Idom. The second goal came as the result of a penalty kick by Gianniana Loza in the eighty-fifth minute. Westmont keeper Roxanne Love nearly blocked the penalty shot attempt, but the ball bounced off her hands with enough backspin to find its way into the goal. Love tallied 10 saves in the game.

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Twenty-fifth ranked Westmont Volleyball (11-5, 2-4 GSAC) had an opportunity to move up in the NAIA national rankings when they hosted #10 Point Loma Nazarene (13-3, 3-3 GSAC) on Saturday afternoon. But the Warriors had their hopes dashed in three close sets.

Senior middle blocker Katey Lowry led the Warriors with nine kills and a .316 attacking percentage. Senior right side hitter Stephanie Dunn and sophomore middle blocker Sami Miller each added seven kills. Tabitha Henken led the attack for the Sea Lions with 10 kills.

The Warriors fell behind 5-11 in the first set but scored 13 of the next 18 points to take a 18-16 lead. Point Loma responded, however, to take a 21-23 lead. Back-to-back kills by Lowry tied the game at 23-all. Then a kill by Point Loma’s Stacie Redmond gave the Sea Lions set-point before a kill by Dunn tied the set again.

Henken restored set-point to Point Loma with a kill, but when she tried to put the match away on the next rally, Dunn and Lowry closed the roof, tying the score at 25. After a Warrior service error gave Point Loma their third set-point, Miller provided a kill to tie the score at 26.

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Senior right side hitter Stephanie Dunn and senior middle blocker Katey Lowry combined for 20 kills on 25 attempts to lead the #25 Warriors (11-4, 2-3 GSAC) to a three-set sweep over San Diego Christian (8-9, 0-6 GSAC) on Friday night at Murchison Gymnasium. Neither hitter made an error during the Golden State Athletic Conference match-up.

“In practice we were really working on seeing the block and going away from it with everything inside of you,” reported Lowry. “So that is what I did and it worked! Even if it wasn’t a super powerful hit I was going for the areas – trying to have a ‘strategic mind’ instead of a ‘glory mind’. Glory comes with strategy.”

Lowry was 9 of 11 for an attack percentage of .818 while Dunn was 11 of 14 with an attack percentage of .786.

“Steph was just on fire,” said Lowry. “She was going around the block like crazy and getting behind the ball. That is what we have been focusing on in practice – connecting with the setters and reading what is going on defense on the other side of the court.”

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Westmont Women’s Soccer (2-2-1) picked up a non-conference win on Wednesday in a 3-0 victory over the Panthers of Chapman University (6-2). Freshman forward Brittany Jewett scored the first goal of her collegiate career with just over two minutes remaining in the opening frame to give the Warriors a 1-0 halftime.

Seven and one-half minutes into the second half, senior defender Britney Scannell, a transfer from UCLA, stretched the Warrior lead to 2-0 with an unassisted goal – her first goal in a Warrior uniform.

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Senior middle blocker Katelyn Lowry led the Warriors with 15 kills and posted an attack percentage of .393 as Westmont Volleyball defeated Hope International (4-11, 0-4 GSAC) by a score of three sets to one on Saturday night in Fullerton. The Warriors won the first two set 25-22, 25-22, lost the third 20-25 and then took the fourth set 25-20.

Senior right side hitter Stephanie Dunn and outside hitter Beth Widicus each added 13 kills with Dunn notching a .320 attack percentage. Sophomore setter Kailee Blair tallied 24 assists while freshman Candace Adema added 17. Senior libero Erin Dohm contributed 27 serve receptions and 21 digs.

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