By: Hope Hensley
August 28, 2026
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The Westmont Warriors women's volleyball team continued its opening weekend at Coussoulis Arena on Friday afternoon, falling in straight sets (16–25, 21–25, 20–25) to Cal Poly Pomona.
The setback drops Westmont to 0–2 on the young season, with two matches remaining in the tournament. Despite the sweep, the Warriors put together competitive stretches throughout the afternoon, compiling nine tie scores and five lead changes across the three frames.
Match Breakdown
Westmont's attack registered 34 total kills on a .158 hitting percentage, while Cal Poly Pomona countered with 42 kills and a .326 clip.
Audrey Hyde once again paced the Warrior attack with a team-high eight kills, while adding ten digs and two block assists. Outside hitters Ava Cotton and Camila Cornejo-Farmer posted strong front-row production as well; Cotton notched seven kills, and Cornejo-Farmer added seven kills along with a block assist and an ace. Ceanna O'Loughlin delivered seven kills on 13 attempts with just three errors (.308 hitting percentage) on the wing, while middle blocker Jordan Weston contributed five kills on 13 attempts with just one error (.308 hitting percentage) and led the net defense with two block assists.
Setter Sierra McClure directed the offense with 27 assists while chipping in eight digs and a block assist. Defensively, libero Rylee Elias recorded ten digs and added a team-high 10-for-10 mark in service receptions.
Set-by-Set Action
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Set 1 (16–25): The Broncos established control early, hitting .364 with 14 kills. Westmont picked up kills from Cotton, Hyde, and O'Loughlin, but Cal Poly Pomona took advantage of key scoring runs to claim the opening frame.
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Set 2 (21–25): Westmont raised its offensive output, collecting 11 kills while forcing seven Cal Poly Pomona attack errors. Serves from Alyson Wurster and Malia de Jesus produced aces to keep the Warriors within striking distance before the Broncos closed out the four-point win.
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Set 3 (20–25): The Warriors delivered their most efficient frame of the match, collecting 13 kills and attacking at a .276 rate. Kills from Hyde and Cotton trimmed the deficit down the stretch, but Cal Poly Pomona held on to secure the match sweep.
Head Coach Ruth McGolpin's Post-Match Comments
On standouts in the match and competing against Cal Poly Pomona:
"That was a tough one. Ceanna O'Loughlin played unbelievable in the front court, and I also have to shout out Rylee Elias in the back row—I thought she was phenomenal. It was just a tough game with who they had on their side. Their number 14, Sarah Ybarra, an All-American, was absolutely lights out. But we kept fighting. That's a top team, receiving votes, and preseason ranked number one in their conference. They were definitely very, very good, but for us, it's just a learning curve."
On the team's aggressive mindset and looking ahead:
"I like that we were still scrappy on defense, had great block touches, and served pretty tough. We had some errors, but I don't mind us swinging hard and taking risks. I told them in a timeout, 'no risk, no reward.' Once they just relaxed, settled in during that third game, and had fun, we came back—just a little bit too late. It's a tough 0–2 start to the season, but tomorrow is a new day and we'll be back at it the Warrior Way."
