The tenth ranked Eagles of Concordia (16-4, 7-4) were out for revenge Tuesday night. Westmont Volleyball (13-8, 5-6) handed the Eagles a four game loss at Murchison Gymnasium on September 10th when Concordia was undefeated and ranked fifth in the NAIA. Since that time, the Eagles have been waiting for the Warriors to visit their arena. That opportunity came last night and unfortunately for Westmont, the Eagles succeeded in snaring their prey by defeating the Warriors in three games (30-23, 30-19, 30-28).

Concordia took charge early in game one, mounting an 8-2 lead and never looking back. Westmont was never able to get its offense going and managed a mere .117 hitting percentage for the match. The Warriors committed 22 hitting errors while registering 39 kills in the contest. Junior Kelsey Voetmann and Kristen De Groot led the Warriors with eleven kills each. Amber Donovan totaled 33 assists.

[stats]

Westmont Volleyball came out swinging to take game one, but could not keep the cage closed on the #16 Azusa Pacific Cougars (14-5, 6-4) who won the match 3-1 (27-30, 30-23, 30-19, 30-23).

In the first game, Westmont (13-7, 5-5) jumped out to a 14-8 lead, but the Cougars roared back to tie the game at 15. A kill by freshman Katie Sharp, who connected on four of seven attempts in game one, gave the Warriors a 27-24 advantage and proved to be the margin of victory. Sharp recorded eight kills and a hitting percentage of .350 in the match. As a whole, Westmont earned a .361 hitting percentage in the first game.

[stats]

Westmont Volleyball came face to face with the NAIA’s top ranked team in Fresno Pacific (16-0, 6-0) and was swept by the Sunbirds in three games (30-15, 30-18, 30-23). Sophomore Kristen De Groot recorded 12 kills and a .200 hitting percentage while junior Kelsey Voetmann connected for 11 kills and a .267 average. Senior setter Amber Donovan recorded 32 assists.

The Warriors (13-5, 5-3) rallied in the third game and held a 17-14 advantage, but Fresno Pacific produced a 5-0 run to regain the lead and the momentum.

[stats]

The road trip to Santa Clarita is the shortest of the year for Westmont’s Volleyball team and a three game sweep of The Master’s (6-9, 2-5) made it a quick trip for the Warriors.

Westmont (13-5, 5-2) was led offensively by Allegra Willis (.353 hitting %) and Kelsey Voetmann (.222) who recorded nine kills each in the 30-25, 31-29, 30-22 win. Kristen De Groot added seven more kills to the Warrior totals.

[stats]

It was a long Saturday night for Westmont’s volleyball team in Murchison Gymnasium. In a game which did not start until 8:30 p.m., the Warriors (12-4, 4-2) fell to #24 Biola (8-5, 2-4) in five games after taking a 2-0 advantage. Game scores in the match were 20-30, 28-30, 30-28, 30-26 and 15-11.

The late start to the contest was to accommodate a Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony which saw four Warriors, including volleyball standout Kelly Barnes Greene (1991-1994), honored for their contribution to Westmont Athletics. The other inductees were Nicole Smith Gabelein (Women’s Soccer 1992-95), Stacia Larson McInnes (Women’s Track and Field 1985-90) and Ron Mulder (Administrator, Coach, Athlete 1958-63, 1967-2004). Greene was also honored for her accomplishments as a track and field athlete.

[stats]

After being named Golden State Athletic Conference Volleyball Libero of the Week for the second time this season, Westmont’s Malinda Reese has also been honored as the NAIA National Volleyball Libero of the Week.

In Westmont’s five game win at Point Loma Nazarene last week, Reese set a school record of 44 digs in a single match. It is the second time this year that Reese has set the record for digs in a match. On August 24, the sophomore recorded 35 digs against Cornerstone (Mich.) establishing what would turn out to be a short lived team record.

Westmont (12-3, 4-1) suffered their first defeat in three and one-half weeks, last night as the Lions of Vanguard (14-2, 2-2) left Murchison Gymnasium with a three game victory (31-29, 30-28, 30-26). The loss brings an end to the Warriors eleven game winning streak.

“We haven’t been disciplined in our play since we beat Concordia,” assessed head coach Jim Smoot. “When you loose by eight points total and you have seven more hitting errors and eight more service errors (than your opponent) that should have been a win. Hopefully this will be a wake up call.”

[stats]

Kelsey Voetmann recorded 19 kills and two service aces in leading the Warriors to their eleventh consecutive win on Saturday as Westmont Volleyball (12-2, 4-0) defeated San Diego Christian three games to one (30-15, 30-20, 22-30, 30-24).

The Warriors jumped out to an 11-5 lead in game one when Amber Donovan served for six points. The Hawks (0-4, 0-4) never got closer than five points the rest of the game. Kristen De Groot recorded five of her 13 kills in the first game to help the Warriors take the early lead. De Groot notched a .258 hitting percentage in the contest.

[stats]