Local college report: PLNU’s soccer season ends in NCAA Tournament; Mesa moves on

Espinal Dereck tapped in a cross deflected by Point Loma Nazarene goalkeeper Jeremy Caringella eight minutes into overtime Saturday afternoon to give Midwestern State a 3-2 victory over the Sea Lions in a NCAA Division II quarterfinals match at PLNU.

PLNU finishes the season with a 16-4-2 record. Midwestern Texas State (17-3-3) advances to the NCAA Division II Final Four next weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo.

PLNU twice rallied from one-goal deficits to send the game into overtime.

Diego Chavez tied the game at 2-2 with a 25-yard goal off passes from Shawn O’Brien and Emmett Layman. Elijah Langford scored PLNU’s first goal in the 59th minute on passes from Curtis Collazos and Inaki Santamarina after Midwestern Texas State held a 1-0 halftime lead.

The Mustangs outshot PLNU 15-13 and had a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.

Meanwhile, the host and third-seeded PLNU women’s volleyball team (26-4) was playing top-seeded Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (27-1) Saturday night in the championship match of the NCAA Division II Western Regional Finals at Golden Gym. The match was still being played when the Union-Tribune went to press.

PLNU defeated Alaska Fairbanks (24-6) 3-1 late Friday by scores of 25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18.

Senior outside hitter Abigail Nua had 16 kills and two blocks for PLNU. Freshman middle blocker Kyra Miles (Helix High School) had 12 kills and four 4 blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Saren Rogers (Victory Christian Academy) had nine kills; Senior libero Macy Reynolds had 18 digs, two aces and two digs. Junior setter Sophia Baugh had 44 assists and 12 digs. Freshman defender Hailey Wilson had 12 digs.

Tritons triumph

Rosa Smith scored 27 points and Erin Condron added 19 points and seven rebounds Saturday as the UC San Diego women’s basketball team opened Big West Conference play with a 75-45 victory over Long Beach State at LionTree Arena.

The points totals were career highs for both Smith and Condron. Both also had five assists.

Smith, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, went 11-for-18 from the field, including going 4-for-10 from 3-point range. She scored 17 of her points in the first half as the 5-4 Tritons raced out to a 39-16 lead. UCSD held a 23-7 lead after the first period.

A preseason All-Big West pick, the 6-foot-4 Condron was 9-for-13 from the floor as the Tritons shot 49.2% (31-for-63) for the game against 0-8 Long Beach State.

“I thought we came in with great pace and great purpose,” said UCSD coach Heidi VanDerveer. “We’ve seen tremendous progress over the last month. We have some great young talent and we’re playing without guards Gracie Gallegos and freshman Lev Freiman.

“Condron has established herself as a premier player. And it’s great to see Rosa come back to play from injuries and surgeries.”

“We did a great job sharing the ball and getting open shots today,” said Smith. “I’m grateful to be on the court and healthy.”

Mesa in title game

Mesa College defeated Santa Monica City College in five sets on Saturday to advance to the California Community College women’s volleyball championship match.

The second-seeded Olympians are 31-1 and riding a 28-match winning streak going into Sunday’s 3C2A state championship title match in Folsom against the winner of Saturday’s late Feather River (35-1) versus Long Beach City College (20-9) semifinals match.

Mesa College prevailed by scores of 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12. The Olympians scored the final three points in the tiebreaker with the winning point coming on a service ace by Lakeside’s Ruby Ennis.

Mia Lundberg led Mesa with 26 kills, 12 digs and two blocks for 28 points. Bella Town (Carlsbad High) had 15 points off 14 kills. Isabella Barrios (Helix High) had eight kills and four blocks. Setter Ennis had 50 assists and Eva Luna (University City High) had 10 digs.