Defending champion Mesa College advanced to the state finals of the California Community College Women’s Volleyball Championships on Saturday, while both the University of San Diego men and Point Loma Nazarene women lost in overtime of the Sweet 16 rounds of their respective NCAA soccer tournaments.

Second-seeded Mesa (25-1) defeated Ventura and Mt. San Antonio colleges by the same 3-1 scores last weekend in the Southern California Regionals to gain a berth in this week’s state championship tournament, Dec. 6-8 at Mt. SAC.

Halen Kiefer led the Olympians with 23 kills in the two regional wins. Bella Town (Carlsbad High School) added 21 kills, Eva Luna (University City) had 20 and Lilia Rosales (Mission Vista) had 16.

Eighth-seeded Palomar College (19-6) defeated Santa Monica 3-1 before being eliminated 3-1 by top-seeded Long Beach City College. Eleventh-seeded Grossmont College (19-9) lost its opening-round match to Cerritos 3-0.

One other women’s volleyball team was in action last weekend.

San Diego State (20-10) lost to top-seeded and eventual champion Colorado State 3-1 in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament after defeating Fresno State 3-1 in the first round. Jasmine Davis paced the Aztecs with 28 kills and 24 digs in the two tournament matches. Taylor Underwood had 26 kills.

The USD men’s soccer season ended with a 1-0 loss to Vermont in overtime Sunday night on a disputed penalty kick at Torero Stadium. USD finishes 15-3-2.

Defending national NCAA Division II champion PLNU (17-3-1) saw its season end in overtime in a 2-1, Western Regionals semifinal loss at Cal Poly Pomona Saturday afternoon.

If possible, the Mesa College football team (8-3) suffered an even more devastating loss Saturday afternoon in a Southern California Regional semifinal game at Riverside.

The Olympians led 30-0 with 26½ minutes to go only to lose 37-30, with the winning touchdown scored with 30 seconds to play. The Tigers covered 408 yards on six scoring drives (five touchdowns, one field goal) in the second half. Quarterback Jax Leatherwood (Scripps Ranch High School) completed 24 of 52 attempts for 327 yards and two touchdowns for Mesa. Troy Bassler (University City) had seven catches for 130 yards. Teammates at Lincoln High School, Jalil Tucker had five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown and Dazure Paggett had nine catches for 83 yards.

San Diego State’s season-opening, eight-game winning streak in women’s basketball came to an end in a 55-54 loss to Providence in the championship game of the Cancun Tournament. Veronica Sheffey led the Aztecs in scoring all three games and finished with 42 points for the tournament. Cali Clark had 23 points and 27 rebounds over the three games and Kim Villalobos had 23 points and 14 rebounds.

The UC San Diego men’s basketball team returned home after winning the Boardwalk Battle in Daytona Beach, Fla., to defeat La Verne 109-33 last Saturday at LionTree Arena. Justin Rochelin came off the bench to lead the 6-2 Tritons with 15 points as no UCSD player played more than 22 minutes.

The Point Loma Nazarene men’s basketball team is off to a 7-2 start while the San Diego City College men’s team is 6-2.

The Grossmont College women’s basketball team is off to a 6-1 start and has won five in a row. The Mesa College and Palomar College women are both 5-1.

Originally Published: December 2, 2024 at 4:01 PM PST