By Christy Cain

August 30, 2014

(IRVINE, Calif.) The Westmont women’s volleyball team had an all- around impressive performance today at the Asics/ Wyndham Labor Day Classic in Irvine, Calif. The Warriors came out strong with a fantastic team display in a win against NCAA Division II Azusa Pacific University (16-25, 18-25, 25-21, 27-25, 15-9)

Before transferring to Division II, the Cougars were a part of the Golden State Athletic Conference, making them a well-known opponent of Westmont athletic teams. With an all-time series record of 39-45 against Azusa, the Warriors could have been considered the underdogs of this match.

But records don’t matter when you step on the court. Westmont was ready to perform—and they put on quite the show.

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For the second game in a row, Malory Mitchel scored two goals as #2 Westmont Women’s Soccer (3-0) posted a 2-0 win over the visiting Wildcats (1-1) of Baker (Kan.). In three games, the Warriors have outscored their opponents 10-1.

“Mal has had a couple of good games and I am proud of her as a senior captain,” said Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “On the second goal she got on the ball, beat a few players (on the dribble) and finished so nicely at the near post.”

Mitchell’s first goal came in the 16th minute after a shot on goal by sophomore Grace Lemley from the right side rebounded off Baker goalkeeper Rachel Theobald. Mitchell, playing on the left, collected the ball and delivered into the net from six yards out.

“It was nice to get the goal relatively early to settle in a little bit,” said Kiely. “We haven’t been starting games great, so that was nice to be able to do.

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Despite outshooting its opponent 22-9, Westmont Men’s Soccer suffered a 2-1 loss to Pomona-Pitzer in the season opener for both teams. The Warriors held a 12-1 corner kick advantage but could not translate the opportunities into goals.

“We got around the goal; it is safe to say that,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “Beyond that, I’m not exactly sure how to evaluate what happened when we got around the goal. They obviously had a couple of big saves – that was a part of it. Then probably some of our inefficiencies were a part of it to.”

The Sagehens opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Voja Maric scored after receiving a pass from Drew Lind. Lind passed the ball ahead from just pass midfield. Maric dribbled 10 yard down the field and fired from 18 yards out.

The Warriors scored an equalizer in the 54th minute, when Tanner Wolf delivered a free kick into the goal from 42 yards out near the left touch line.

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By Christy Cain

August 29, 2014

(IRVINE, Calif.) After a shaky start to the 2014 season, today was exactly was exactly what the Westmont women’s volleyball team needed. From the moment the Warriors stepped on the court this morning at the Asics/ Wyndham Labor Day Classic, they were focused and ready to go –the energy was high and the execution was even higher

This was the first time that Westmont had played against Menlo College (Calif.) since defeating them in the opening round of the 2013 NAIA National Championship. While this was a rematch of sorts for Menlo, Westmont had a record to withhold. Prior to this match, the Warriors were 5-0 against The Oaks and after this three game sweep (25-13, 25-19, 25-15) the perfect record still stands.

From the first point of the match, all aspects of the game seemed to work for the Warriors. The passing was on point, senior setter Heidi Thompson, was dishing the ball to the hitters who were consistently putting the ball away.

As most players know, the game of volleyball begins with the pass. Thankfully for the Warriors, Libero Kami Troesh took control of the back row. Troesh finished with 16 serve receive attempts, zero errors and 17 digs in just three games. This made Thompson’s job a little bit easier, allowing her to finish with 40 assists on the match. Senior Madison Serrano led the offensive charge with a total of 14 kills while Freshman Taylor Beckman put on an outstanding show, completing the match with an errorless 13 kills on 22 attempts.

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“We made a conscious decision to choose chemistry over talent,” said Westmont Men’s Soccer head coach Dave Wolf reflecting on the reason for his program’s upward turn. “There are all kinds of other things that happened, which in cumulative effect all contribute to where we are at now, but the foundation of the trajectory was that concept.”

Wolf has an impressive record of 280-131-43 (.661) in his 23 years as Westmont’s head coach, making him the program’s winningest coach. However, in the 2011 and 2012 campaigns, Wolf’s teams produced a total of just eight wins. Last season, the Warriors rebounded with a record of 11-7 overall and 6-4 in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

In a candid interview, the coach shared his perspective on the experiences that brought about the renewal.

The 52nd meeting of Westmont and UC Santa Barbara in the Bryant and Sons cup saw the Gauchos post a 2-0 victory over the Warriors. UCSB now holds a 25-23-4 advantage in the series.

The Warriors’ started the game with a lot of intensity and had their best chance to score in the second minute when Jonathan Yeeles fired off a shot from 24 yards out that went just wide.

“I thought it was the sharpest start I have seen in a very long time,” said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. “That is part of the disappointment. I felt like we were really up for it and really able to compete in the game. When it started getting away from us, we couldn’t get out of it. We were in that mode for a 20-25 minute period. We didn’t seem to have the capability to turn that around.”

The Gaucho’s first goal came in the 13th minute. Reed McKenna fired a shot that was saved by Westmont goalkeeper Josh Glover. Unfortunately, the rebound came back to McKenna who put the ball in the back of the net.

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Senior forward Mallory Mitchell had a pair of goals on Saturday morning at Russ Carr Field to lead #2 Westmont Women’s Soccer (2-0) to a 4-1 win over the visiting Eagles (1-2) of Northwest (Wash.). The Warriors scored three times in a seven minute span during the second half to secure the win.

Mitchell’s first goal came in the 26th minute when she headed in a ball that was crossed from the left corner by senior forward Carly Holly. The ball was initially blocked by Northwest goalkeeper Patty Hughes, but hit the ground and spun backward into the net.

The Eagles responded in the 30th minute with a goal by Acacia Johnson. Johnson dribbled up the center of the field and past Westmont goalkeeper Lauren Dorr, scoring into an empty net.

“We were all unsatisfied with the first half,” noted Westmont head coach Kristi Kiely. “(Northwest) has a quick front player in Johnson. We had the scout on her and had a game plan, but we didn’t stick to it.

“In the second half we made some adjustments and encouraged the team to go forward. We had a lot of success doing so.”

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By Christy Cain
August 22, 2014

It was another rough day for the lady Warriors at the Biola Volleyball/ Red Lion-Anaheim Summer Slam tournament. After going 0-2 yesterday, Westmont dropped their first match of the day against Montana Tech (25-16, 25-20, 27-25).

While the Orediggers came out firing on all cylinders, tallying 15 kills in the first set, the Warriors struggled to find a rhythm. Once Montana Tech had the lead, they never let up. Throughout the entire match, there were only a couple of streaks where Westmont was able to pull ahead with the lead. They came out with some energy in the third set of the match, but ultimately fell to Montana Tech 27-25.

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