Senior outside hitter Alison Sharp pounded 17 kills and posted a .433 hitting percentage to lead Westmont to a sweep of Missouri Baptist (25-17, 25-20, 25-17) in Saturday’s first game at the Point Loma Nazarene Seaside Volleyball Invitational.
The Warriors went on to shut out Robert Morris (Ill.) in the afternoon (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) to run their season record to 4-0.
“Alison was playing great defense, passed the ball well and hammered the ball,” reported Westmont head coach Jim Smoot. “It was great to see senior leadership not only in words but also in actions on the court.”
Sharp lead the Warriors during the two-day event with 36 kills (3.60 per set).
“We played strong,” said Smoot, “especially in the morning match against Missouri Baptist, which is receiving votes in the national poll. What I liked most about our performance is that when they started to make runs, we cut them off and limited them to just a few points.”
One of the reasons for the Warrior’s success was the play of sophomore setter Candace Adema who averaged 12.08 assists per set.
“Through the whole tournament, Candace was great not only at her placement of the game, but at running the offense and taking advantage of the other teams’ weaknesses,” said Smoot. “She also dumped a lot of balls very effectively which kept our opponents off balance.”
Freshman Tessa Martin led the way for the Warriors against Robert Morris, tallying 12 kills on 20 attempts without an error (.600 attack percentage). She also added eight digs and six serve receptions.
Unfortunately, the success of the team was dampened by an injury to Chelsea Dornseif. Playing in just her second collegiate set, the freshman had recorded five kills and ten serve receptions before going down with what appears to be a serious injury to her knee. The extent of her injuries is yet to be determined.
Westmont will return to action next week when they participate in the Asics/Crowne Plaza Tournament at Concordia in Irvine.
