Westlake Makes Up for a Loss

SIMI VALLEY — It was a tossup as to which was more surprising Thursday night:

Courtney Miller’s sudden decision to undergo potential season-ending surgery or the ease with which her Westlake High teammates defeated Royal, 15-4, 15-2, 16-14, in a Marmonte League girls’ volleyball match.

Surprise, surprise.

Miller, a Division I prospect, said she was advised by a doctor earlier in the day to have a bone fragment removed from her left foot.

“It’s swollen and purple and blue,” said Miller, who will undergo surgery next week and be sidelined for six to eight weeks. “When I land it hurts and if I played it wouldn’t be at full potential.”

A stress test showed Miller’s foot, which was injured during her freshman basketball season and grew worse over the summer, to be around one-third of full strength.

The rest of the Warriors weren’t stressed at all. They simply picked up the pace and knocked back a decent Highlander team.

Defense was key as the Warriors (8-0, 3-0 in league play), led by setter Brooke Rundle, refused to let anything touch the floor.

“We were going, whew, what do you do against that,” Royal Coach Bob Ferguson said. “Their fundamentals on getting low and down on the floor are excellent.”

As was Leigh O’Neill, who drew her first start at outside hitter in place of Megan Mullen, who took Miller’s opposite hitter spot.

O’Neill had 11 kills.

“Tonight was a real test for the other girls,” Westlake Coach Chris Rundle said.

Heather Hutchison added 10 kills for the Warriors, the top-ranked team in Southern Section Division II-A. They’ll see how good they are in the Las Vegas Durango tournament, an invitation-only competition that starts Friday and features 16 of the nation’s best teams.

Royal (4-1, 2-1) was tense in the first two games and passed so poorly that middle blocker Sherisa Livingston was left out of the offense.

Courtney Guerra took up the slack with nine of her 15 kills in the first two games. It wasn’t enough.

Livingston, who took a recruiting trip to Wisconsin last weekend, had five of her seven kills in the third game.