The Westmont Warrior volleyball team fell to eighth-ranked Jamestown (N.D.), 25-22, 22-25, 31-29, 25-19, on the second day of pool play at the NAIA National Championships in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Jimmies, top seeded in Pool H, came back from deep deficits in the critical third set to tie Westmont at 24 before closing out the game 31-29.
In set four, the Warriors’ Cassidy Rea quickly scored two points but Westmont would have to play catch-up throughout the set, finally succumbing 25-19.
“The fourth set, we came out a little bit flat,” said Westmont coach Ruth McGolpin. “We seemed to lose some focus and that’s not like us. We were right there with them, though. It wasn’t reflected in the fourth set, but we are playing our best volleyball right now. We will be better tomorrow, we’ll bounce back.”
The Warriors, seeded third, will play the fourth-seed, Xavier (La.) on Thursday in their final pool match.
Rea led all players with 17 kills. The Warriors had 17 team blocks to Jamestown’s seven.
Xavier is 31-8 on the season and is 0-2 in Pool H matches, losing Wednesday to Columbia (Mo.), 3-1. Jamestown, 2-0 in Pool H play, takes on Columbia (1-1) on Thursday.
The two teams with the best record in each of the eight pools will advance to the round of 16. The single elimination games will begin Friday.