The Westwood Warriors lost to the Mountain View Toros in three sets on Wednesday at Mountain View.

With the loss, Westwood dropped to 4-12 on the season and 0-3 within their section. They have struggled all year, losing seven of their last eight, which is surprising after they went 21-13 last year and finished third in their section.

The first and second sets were close, 25-20 and 25-23, respectively. The Toros dominated the third set, 25-13.

Westwood assistant coach Dan Green was unhappy with the officiating, but afterwards said that regardless of the refs, he wanted to see his team improve.

“I just want to see my team get a little bit better every day,” Green said, “That’s always what we’re looking for. No matter how well they play we want to see them get better. No matter how bad they play we want to see them get better.”

The game was very emotional. With the schools less than five miles away from each other, many students made the trip to support the Warriors. The crowd was loud and very into the game, getting louder even after Westwood started to fall behind.

Mountain View head coach Clark Fleming noticed this as well. 

“The game is up and down and emotional and sometimes it’s hard, especially for the in-region, city of Mesa matches," Fleming said. "Sometimes you get into key moments and want to just hit it in.”

The match perhaps hit its peak near the end of the second set. Mountain View was starting to pull away and take a commanding 2-0 set lead. They were up 23-18, needing just two more points to secured the set. Westwood went on a four-point run with junior Annie Hansen serving. Westwood gave up a point, but Mountain View hit its next serve out of bounds. Westwood almost came back, but an attempted spike was blocked, giving Mountain View the victory.

It was a big day for Westwood junior Tianna Hartzog as she finished with five kills and a pair of blocks. 

Mountain View freshman Reece Fishbeck had a very good game as well, tallying seven kills. Junior Brekyn Goodman notched three aces in the win.

The Warriors' next match is Thursday when they host Dobson (4-12). The teams have yet to play this year but last year Dobson won all three of the matches against each other.

Mountain View doesn’t play again until they travel to Westwood on Oct. 1.