Middle blocker Katie Lowry posted 37 kills and notched a .431 attack percentage over four matches as Westmont Volleyball opened the season at the Holiday Inn Express Tournament in Lewiston, Idaho. The junior also tallied a team-high seven blocks over the two day event. On Friday, the Warriors earned a three-set win over Northwest (Wash.) but fell in five sets to Concordia (Ore.). Junior Beth Widicus also contributed 37 kills while junior transfer Erin Dohm produced 100 digs and 98 serve receptions on the Warriors’ behalf.

On Saturday afternoon, the Warriors claimed a 3-2 victory over Corban (Ore.). After dropping the first set 25-23, Westmont rallied to post and impressive 25-11 win in set number two. But after falling 25-22 in set three, Westmont had to rally once more in game four. Down 20-17, Widicus produced a kill to send senior setter Stephanie Stasner to the service line. Four points later, the Warriors were clinging to a 21-20 lead.

[Westmont vs Corban stats] [Westmont vs Lewis-Clark State stats]

The 2008 Westmont Volleyball season got underway with the Warriors participating in the Holiday Inn Express Tournament at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. The Warriors won their first match of the day in straight sets 25-21, 25-19, 25-20 over Northwest (Wash.) But Westmont (1-1) lost the night-cap three sets to two to Concordia (Ore.) (24-26, 10-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-11).

Junior outside hitter Beth Widicus tallied 12 kills for the Warriors in the victory over Northwest while sophomore outside hitter Alison Sharp added eight kills and senior middle blocker Katelyn Lowry added seven more. Senior Stephanie Strasner and freshman Kailee Blair teamed up to handle the setting duties in head coach Jim Smoot’s 6-2 offense and each tallied 16 assists. Junior transfer Erin Dohm, a local product who came to Westmont from Dos Pueblos High School by way of Santa Barbara City College, produced 17 digs for the Warriors.

[Westmont vs Northwest stats] [Westmont vs Concordia stats]

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.

Senior Malinda Reese has named both the Golden State Athletic Conference and NAIA Region II Libero of the Year. The San Carlos resident, who holds a firm grasp on every defensive record at Westmont, was previously named the NAIA National Libero of the Week and has been recognized as a GSAC Scholar-Athlete.

“I’ve told other coaches that Malinda is the best defensive player I’ve ever had on a team in all the year’s I’ve coached – men’s or women’s,” said head coach Jim Smoot whose career includes serving as the head coach of the men’s programs at Hawaii, Ohio State and Loyola Marymount. “On top of that, she is a great scholar-athlete and a great team member and team captain.”

Reese averaged exactly eight digs per game (824 digs in 103 games), 2.3 digs per game better than Leslie Windham of The Master’s College who finished second among the conference statistical leaders. Reese’s nearest rival in the region was Christa Hewett of Menlo who averaged 7.1 digs per game. Nationally, Reese finished third in digs per game.

Westmont Volleyball put up an epic battle, the season came to an end in San Diego as #9 Point Loma Nazarene (17-12, 9-11) defeated the Warriors in five games. In the first game, the Sea Lions seemed bent on avenging a previous five-game lost to the Warriors at Murchison Gymnasium. Tied at two points each, Point Loma went on a 12-0 run and cruised to an easy 30-15 win.

Westmont (13-16, 6-14) gave Point Loma more of a battle in game two, but the team found itself facing a two-game-to-none deficit after losing 30-24. Down 18-14 in game three, the Westmont appeared to be headed towards suffering a three-game sweep. But Westmont rallied to tie the game at 20. A see-saw battled ensued which finally ended with Westmont on top 35-33.

[stats]

Westmont Volleyball used a balanced attack to put a scare into #3 Concordia (24-3, 15-3) at Westmont’s Murchison Gymnasium on Saturday. The Warriors (12-15, 5-13) made every game interesting but the Eagles walked away with a three-game sweep (30-26, 30-22, 30-26).

“I thought we played very well,” said head coach Jim Smoot. “There were stretches in which they were serving tough and we weren’t passing well enough to run our offense. Concordia is such a good defensive team that once they got us out of our system, it’s fairly easy for them to convert their defense into points. But I was very pleased with our effort. We’ll keep working and hopefully by next weekend we will have shorter sections where we let our opponent run points.

[stats]

Katey Lowry hammered home 17 kills while Katie Sharp added 15 and Laura Trudelle contributed 14 as the Warriors posted a 3-1 victory over Hope International (6-16, 3-14) on Tuesday night at Murchison Gymnasium. The Warriors started the night a little sluggish, but got the ball bouncing their way in the middle of the second game and then poured it on in game three.

“Everybody was wondering where our team was the first game and one-half,” acknowledged head coach Jim Smoot. “Hope was playing well and we weren’t doing the little things like the wing-diggers picking up the ball and taking care of free balls. If you don’t do that, a team like Hope is going to beat you.”

[stats]

Westmont Volleyball (11-14, 4-12) suffered a three-game sweep at #2 California Baptist (21-3, 14-2) on Saturday afternoon in Riverside. The loss was the third in the row for the Warriors, all against teams ranked in the top six in the NAIA.

Laura Trudelle led the Warriors with 10 kills and Beth Widicus added another eight. Katie Pace and Ally Rios each posted 18 assists. Malinda Reese tallied 22 digs and 34 service receptions. Widicus had 20 service receptions.

The Warriors return to action on Tuesday, October 30 as the host Hope International (6-15, 3-13) in Murchison Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.

[stats]