The Westmont women’s volleyball team announced the signings of five incoming freshmen on Tuesday, with four staying in their home state of California.
Lexi Malone of Ventura, Alexa Gatiss of Campbell, Kendall Reinecke-Kenyon of Newport Beach, Keilani Mayo of San Jose and Keelyn Kistner of Queen Creek, Arizona will join the Warriors for the Fall season.
Malone comes from Foothill Tech, where she is the school’s all-time leader in kills and blocks. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker earned first-team, all-league honors twice, while also leading Foothill to CIF-SS and State Regional Championship games.
Gatiss comes to Westmont as an Augustinian Scholar, coming from Branham High School, where she was a four-year varsity starter and a two-year captain. Branham won three league titles over her four years. The 5-foor-10 setter competed in the 2019 Girls Junior Nationals with her club team, Vision Volleyball.
Reinecke-Kenyon, a 6-1 middle or outside hitter, was a first-team all-league player for Saddleback Valley Christian this season and has championship pedigree, as ehe won the 2016 SoCal Championship with her club team.
Mayo, a 5-foot-6 defensive specialist, was a second-team all-league selection at Valley Christian High this year, and three years removed from winning the CIF Nor Cal Div. II and Central Coast Section Div. II titles.
Finally, Kistner, a 5-foot-9 setter, won the 2017 HUDL SoCal Invitational and 2017 Chandler House of Payne Invitational with Perry High School. She also comes to Westmont having been selected to the USA High Performance International Youth Team from Arizona in 2017.
Westmont kicks off its season on Aug. 14-15 at the Hope International Summer Slam.
NEELY IN CROATIA
Former Westmont women’s volleyball star Samantha Neely is playing in Pula, Croatia as part of of the Global Challenge 2019 Tournament, joining the Senri Kinran University team from Japan.
The tournament runs through Friday, with 26 teams from 13 countries participating.
“Anytime that we can get anybody playing beyond their years in college is pretty special,” Westmont volleyball head coach Ruth McGolpin, Neely’s assistant coach for four years, said in a press release. “Whether it’s adult nationals or something like this, I think it’s pretty awesome.”
Neely’s team went 1-1 on the opening day of play, with pool play continuing into this morning. Playoffs begin tonight.
“I didn’t know what to expect going into this tournament,” said Neely. “When I showed up, I learned quickly that most of the team and the coach did not speak any English. It has been so fun trying to figure out how to communicate and play with a team that doesn’t speak the same language as me. I have learned many new Japanese words, and I love this Japanese team a lot. It has been exciting to also meet other teams. It was awesome talking with the girls from the Iranian National Team and learning about their culture as well. As different as everyone is, the cool part is we all share at least one thing in common: our love for volleyball.”
Neely was recently hired as the Mt. San Antonio College assistant women’s volleyball coach.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
WESTMONT INKS SIX MORE
The Westmont women’s soccer program has added six more recruits to the 2019 class, with head coach Jenny Jaggard announcing the addition of Reese Davidson of Rancho Santa Margarita, Taylie Scott of Maple Grove, Minnesota; Kailey Meyer of Danville, Charlotte Chipembere of Westlake Villag, Mackenzie Tobin of Clayton and McKenna Sawitz of Ventura.
Davidson played for Trabuco Hills High School and joins club teammate, Grace Duckens, as incoming freshmen. Davidson was a first-team, all-CIF player, while also playing club soccer for the South Slammers FC.
Scott is the younger sister of Westmont men’s soccer senior Tanner Scott. Taylie is a three-time all-state selection from Heritage Christian Academy, while also winning four State Cup titles with her club team, MapleBrook Soccer Club.
Meyer is transferring from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she redshirted in 2018. The goalkeeper was a three-sport star at Campolindo High School, where she helped her team win the Northern California State Championship. She was a team captain for six seasons with her club team, Walnut Creek Soccer Club.
Chipembere was a team MVP at Westlake High School, where she was also a first-team all-league selection. The goalkeeper played club for both the Simi Valley Eclipse and L.A. Galaxy.
Tobin, a center back, was the captain at Clayton Valley Charter High School, while also playing the same role for her club team, Diablo FC.
Finally, Sawitz is the third goalkeeper in this class, coming to Westmont from Buena High School, where she also played club soccer for Ventura County Fusion.
The 13-player recruiting class will get its first taste of NAIA action on Aug. 15 with a home game against Southern Oregon at 4 p.m.
LITTLE LEAGUE
DPLL JUNIORS AT SO CAL STATE TOURNAMENT
Trying to claw their way back through the loser’s bracket, the Dos Pueblos Little League Juniors shut out Newmark Little League of San Bernardino, 7-0, on Tuesday night in the So Cal State Tournament in Anaheim.
DPLL collected nine hits on the day, led by Naythan Bojorquez with two doubles, while Arjun Gunda had two hits and two RBIs. Tomas Gil, Matteo Calene, Dylan Gesswein and Luke Varesio all contributed an RBI.
Luke Varesio earned the win with three shutout innings, while Joe Talarico worked 2.2 innings of relief with Bojorquez closing out the game with 1.1 innings of work.
DPLL played Temecula on Wednesday night in an elimination game.
