By
Jacob Norling
April 21, 2021
(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) The #12 San Diego Christian Hawks (11-1, 10-0 GSAC) proved to be too much to handle for the Warriors (7-10, 4-4) on Wednesday, as Westmont's season came to a close following a 4-0 sweep.
"Our Warriors showed up ready to compete today," said GSAC Coach of the Year
Ellie Johnson. "The team fought hard top to bottom, from start to finish."
In doubles play the Hawks put the Warriors on their heels quickly, when Tatiana Harvey and Franzi Niederle won 6-0 against
Logan Jackson and
Olivia Madarang on court three. On court two the Warriors appeared poised to knot things up with
Christine Hemry and
Sidney Lowry leading 5-3, but before that match concluded the Hawks claimed court one in nine games.
Two of San Diego Christian's three All-GSAC athletes (Valentina Sottile and Angela Rinaldi) defeated Westmont's two All-GSAC athletes (
Cade Pierson and
Rachal Jackson) by a score of 6-3 to give the Hawks the 1-0 advantage.
San Diego Christian's Tomi Felix completed the first singles match of the morning by handing Hemry a 6-4, 7-5 defeat on court four. Soon after Barbara Damiani, who was the Hawk's third member of the All-GSAC team, claimed victory over Jackson on court two by a score of 6-2, 6-4.
On court one Pierson did all she could to get Westmont on the board as she led against Rinaldi 6-1, 5-0, but the match came to an end before the former All-American could get the Warriors a point. Because on court three Sottile ended the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lowry to send the Hawks to the GSAC Championship.
"Cade played an incredible match," said Johnson. "She was super steady and attacking on the right ball, and was two points away from winning the match so it was a major bummer she wasn't able to finish when the overall match was decided.
"Sydney played the best tennis of her season and was totally in control. Both Rachal and Christine had a good battle in their second set, and Olivia was two points away from winning her match as well. Logan also played focused and confident, and like everyone else, she battled to the end."
The Hawks will take on Saint Katherine tomorrow morning, with a trip to the NAIA National Tournament on the line. San Diego Christian will be looking for their second conference tournament championship in program history and their first since 2018, when they defeated Westmont to repeat as tournament champions.
