By Ron Smith
March 5, 2026
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A short-handed Westmont Women's Tennis team (6-5) suffered a 7-0 loss to Hawai'i Hilo (2-3) on Thursday afternoon at the Abbott Tennis Courts. The Warriors were without the services of their number one and two players.
 
"Unfortunately, we had to adjust our line-up accordingly," acknowledged Westmont's head coach Sheila Snyder. "I was super proud about how our number one and two doubles competed."
 
At number one Westmont's Sabina Salva and Liska Knight took Mila Srebro and Marie Cordonnier to the tiebreaker where they lost 7-5. On the number two court, the Vulcans' Anna Takahashi and Victoria Ricuaurte-Cabas battled against Justie Spitzer and Emma Rashid with the Hilo duo prevailing 7-5. Ellie Triplett and Eleanor Edwards represented Westmont in number three doubles, falling 6-1 to Lehua Jordan and Kaiya Ideta.
 
With the lineup shortage, the singles competition featured Westmont freshmen on courts three, four, five and six. Seniors Sabina Salva and Justine Spitzer played on courts one and two respectively. Salva lost to Johanna Roggenkamp 6-2, 6-2 while Spitzer fell to Takahashi 6-4, 6-2.
 
The closest singles match occurred on court number four where Rashid took on Pia Starnecker. After dropping the first set 6-0, Rashid came back and won the second set 6-3. A super tiebreaker was played in lieu of a full third set with Starnecker outpacing Rashid 10-7.
 
"Emma is a fighter," offered Snyder. "She plays with a lot of heart and a lot of grit, and she never gave up. For a freshman to step up at number four and compete the way she did is what a Warrior is all about."
 
At the number five court, Jessie Allen lost 6-2, 6-0 to Ricaurte-Cabas. Rylee Halsey lost 6-1, 6-2 to Cordonnier on six. Over at number three, Triplett lost to Srebro 6-0, 6-0.
 
"We had some bright spots today, but it wasn't enough," noted Snyder. "We are going to continue to work hard and strive to get better every match. That is our goal."
 
The Warriors will look to get back on the winning track on Saturday when they host Cal State Los Angeles (1-4). First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.