By Jacob Norling
November 9, 2024
 
(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) Twenty-one different times this season has an NCAA Division II Volleyball team woken up on game day and wondered if they'd be the team to knock-off the Point Loma Sea Lions. Today, that opportunity fell to the Westmont Warriors who were given the same resounding answer as each of the schools before them: no.
 
Make no mistake, the Warriors fought hard, especially in a tight-knit first set, but today's story, like every one Point Loma has been included in this season, was hijacked by the dominance of the Sea Lions. After today's sweep of Westmont (12-10, 7-8 PacWest), the Sea Lions' record moved to an incredible 21-0, including a perfect 15-0 record in PacWest play. After today's match, PLNU has still lost only seven sets all season.
 
"We battled them," said Westmont head coach Ruth McGolpin, "and that first set just got away from us. Obviously, that's a tough team over there, but I'm proud of the way our team handled themselves."
 
The Warriors put themselves in a position to potentially dream in set one, with an ace from Ella Hosfeld putting the Warriors up 20-12 after a rather dominant stretch. Minutes later, a pair of kills from Maddie Finnegan put the Warriors within spitting distance of a set one win, as Westmont led 23-17 before things would get dicey.
 
The Sea Lions then scored four consecutive points, but after a PLNU service error the Warriors were still one point away from the win at 24-21. The bad news for Westmont fans is that they would not score again in the first. Three kills and two blocks from the Sea Lions capped off a ridiculous 14-4 run to end the set, putting the Warriors on their heels immediately after their hot start.
 
Westmont would not threaten again like they did in set one, with the Sea Lions winning the second set 25-16, and the third set 25-15 to finish the sweep.
 
"Shout-out of all shout-outs goes to Rylee Elias, our libero," emphasized McGolpin. "She was amazing on both defense and with her serving. We blocked pretty good, but offensively we just could not get it going. Again, I'm still proud of the team. We've got five games left and one on Monday, and I'm excited for the quick turnaround. We just have to play the rest of our matches like we did the majority of the first set today."
 
The Warriors will begin a three-game homestand on Monday night at 7:00 p.m., when the Warriors host the Hawaii Hilo Vulcans inside The Murch. Links to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.