By Ron Smith
March 7, 2026
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Freshman Jessie Allen clinched the team win on the number five singles court as Westmont Women's Tennis (7-5) defeated Cal State Los Angeles (1-5) by a score of 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Abbott Tennis Courts. Allen defeated Charlotte Downs 6-3, 6-4 to claim the win for both herself and the Warriors.
 
Westmont remained without the services of Thea Donarski, who plays at number one singles, due to an illness. However, for the first time in more than a month, Lauren Gee returned to the Warrior lineup after sitting out with an injury.
 
"It was a crazy start to the day when you think you have a line-up but you have to make adjustments on the fly," noted Westmont's head coach Sheila Snyder. "We had to put together doubles teams that had not played together before."
 
However, those doubles teams responded and claimed the doubles point to go up 1-0. At number two, Gee, a sophomore, teamed up with freshman Ellie Triplett and cruised to a 6-0 win over Macy Hinds and Ainoho Salo. Then on court one, Sabrina Salva and Liska Knight posted a 6-4 win over Mane Sargsyan and Georgiana Parr.
 
"For us to play without our one and two and make adjustments in our doubles line-up, and for the players to step up like they did is huge – especially for a young team," expressed Snyder.
 
At number three doubles, senior Justie Spitzer and Emma Rashid were battling with Downs and Sofia Pavlova. The duo from Los Angeles led the match 5-4 when it was suspended because the doubles' point had already been won by the Warriors.
 
"We went to singles and had freshmen at three, four, five and six and were playing without our one and two singles players," pointed out Snyder. It was a total team effort and I was super proud."
 
The Warrior team earned one point on court five when Triplett's opponent (Sargsyan) had to retire. Triplett was up 4-0 at the time. Another point came on the number two court where Spitzer defeated Parr 6-2, 6-0. Then, Allen earned the decisive fourth point with her victory over Downs.
 
Westmont added another point on court five where Rashid defeated Salo 6-1, 5-7, (10-7).
 
The Warriors will not return to action until next Saturday, March 14, when they welcome the Sharks of Hawai'i Pacific to the Abbott Tennis Courts for a match beginning at 10:30 a.m.