When the NAIA released its women’s tennis preseason poll on February 6, the Warriors of Westmont could not be found on the list. Today, a remarkable season for #12 Westmont (11-11), which saw freshman starting in the top three singles positions, came to an end in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament as they lost 5-1 to #3 Azusa Pacific (17-5).

“Every person’s match was considerably improved over when we played Azusa Pacific back in February,” said head coach Kathy LeSage. “I’m proud that we were able to show who we are now. We have shown improvement in every match this year. You can’t play scared when you are playing the number three team and I’m proud that we didn’t play scared today.”

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Despite weariness from extended travel delays, #12 Westmont Women’s Tennis (11-10) picked up a 6-3 win over #25 Mobile (12-6) in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament in Mobile, Alabama. The Warriors will advance to second round action on tomorrow, taking on a familiar foe in #3 Azusa Pacific at 9:00 a.m.

The team’s travel plans to the national tournament were interrupted when their Friday morning flight from Orange County to Mobile was delayed by one hour. Since that meant they would miss their connection in Houston, American Airlines re-routed the team to Los Angeles International to catch a 12:30 a.m. flight on Delta Airlines. But when they tried to board, the Delta gate agent would not allow the team on the airplane with their American Airlines tickets.

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The #25 ranked Rams of the University of Mobile will feel right at home when they take on #12 Westmont Women’s Tennis in the first round of the NAIA National Championship on May 12. The Warriors drew the tournament’s host institution which boasts a 12-5 record on the season.

“They have a little advantage in that they are probably training on a daily basis at the facility where we are going to be playing,” said Westmont Head Coach Kathy LeSage, “and they are used to the hot and muggy weather conditions.”

With a conference record of 4-3, Mobile finished third in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference behind #13 Xavier of Louisiana (16-7, 8-0 GCAC) and unranked Spring Hill of Alabama (9-5, 5-3 GCAC). At the Region XIII tournament, Mobile lost 5-1 to Xavier in the quarterfinals. The Ram’s loss was a reversal of the conference tournament in which Mobile claimed the championship with a 5-4 win over Xavier.

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For the eighteenth time in the 22 years under the leadership of head coach Kathy LeSage, Westmont women’s tennis has qualified for the NAIA National Tournament. The Warriors will receive an at-large invitation as the result of a number twelve ranking in the final national poll for the 2008 season.

“To accomplish our season goal of going to nationals is very exciting,” said LeSage. “It feels like it has been a while since we have been there, even though it was just two years ago. The fact that we weren’t on the bubble in the last part of the season helped us to gain confidence and feel like we earned it.”

Thirteen teams earn automatic qualification to the 24-team national tournament through regional competition and one berth will be awarded to #25 University of Mobile as the host school. That leaves ten at-large bids which are awarded to the ten highest ranked teams in the final national poll which did not earn an automatic qualification.

Twelve student-athletes were honored on Thursday night at the Fourteenth Golden Eagle Award Dinner held at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Referred to as the ‘best night of the year for Westmont Athletics,’ the event is sponsored by the Pacific Beverage Company and Pete and Gerd Jordano.

“It’s even better than our 28-point win over Azusa Pacific,” said associate athletic director and head women’s basketball coach Kirsten McKnight in welcoming the 125 attendees.

Westmont athletic director Dave Wolf served as master of ceremonies for the event and noted that the Westmont staff of head coaches tallied a combined 114 years of experience and that for seven of the coaches, their entire head coaching experience has been at Westmont.

With the overall match tied at four, Westmont juniors Kristen Lee and Christina Klein pulled off a come-from-behind win at number three doubles to secure a 5-4 victory over #13 Point Loma Nazarene (8-12, 4-5 GSAC) on Saturday afternoon at Russ Carr Field. The win over the Sea Lions was the second of the year for the #16 Warriors who improved to 10-10 overall and 4-5 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. The victory could help secure a place for the Warriors in the upcoming NAIA National Women’s Tennis Tournament next month in Mobile, Alabama.

“Even though we played with a lot of nerves, this team showed maturity by resisting succumbing to their nervousness,” said Kathy LeSage, the very delighted head coach.

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On Monday morning, Westmont head coach Kathy Le Sage and UC Santa Barbara head coach Pete Kirkwood decided their respective teams could use another match this week - so they agreed to play each other on Tuesday afternoon at the Abbott Tennis Courts on the Westmont campus. The NCAA Division I Gauchos (7-7) won the match 9-0, but not without the #23 NAIA Warriors (8-8) putting up a fight.

In doubles play, Jill Damion and Asagi Onaga teamed up at number one to defeat Westmont freshmen Lauren Combs and Erin McGurty 8-1. The Gauchos’ Tova Hausman and Brittany Kausen defeated freshman Ilissa Mathews and senior Jennie Dunn on court two by a score of 8-3 while Bryanna Ojeda and Juliette Mutzke picked up the win on court three by the same score over juniors Kristen Lee and Christina Klein.

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Westmont women’s tennis head coach LeSage has been looking toward two match-ups with #12 Point Loma Nazarene all season. She knew that if the #23 Westmont was going to position itself for an at-large bid in the national tournament, they would need to pick up a victory over higher ranked teams. On Wednesday, the coach got her wish as the Warriors defeated the Sea Lions by a score of 6-3 in Palm Springs in a non-conference match. The two teams will play again in April at Westmont in the final match of the year.

“That is our first victory over Point Loma in many, many years,” said LeSage . “They had a big target on their backs and we hit the bull’s-eye. Point Loma lost yesterday to Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.) which is ranked eighth by a score of 5-3. That’s a similar result to ours and I’d like to think we are comparable.”

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