<p class="p1">WESTLAKE — In a match up of the top two volleyball teams in Southwest Louisiana, Division III No. 2 Westlake bent a little but did not break Wednesday as it swept Division II No. 9 Sam Houston, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19.</p><p class="p1">“We came out strong in the first set, but we kind of lost our momentum in the second set,” Westlake head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “We made a few errors that we got down on.</p><p class="p1">“I told them they can’t get down, you have to keep playing. You are not going to have a perfect game, just play through it.”</p><p class="p1">Westlake improved to 15-0 and is one of just two undefeated teams left in the state. The other is Division I No. 1 Mt. Carmel (16-0).</p><p class="p1">Westlake had little trouble in the first set. Keonda Johnson’s back-to-back aces and a 6-0 run helped the Rams to break open a close set.</p><p class="p1">But the second set was not as smooth. Westlake took a 4-3 lead on a kill by Jena Johnson, but Sam Houston went on a 3-0 with help from an ace by Lauren Garrett.</p><p class="p1">Sam Houston led 18-16 after a kill by Jaiden Glover, but couldn’t make the lead stick.</p><p class="p1">“I think that it is just our mental consistency,” Sam Houston head coach Rene Fontenot said. “We have to just keep driving hard no matter what the score is.</p><p class="p1">“We can’t wait until we feel things out. We tend to back off and play conservative.”</p><p class="p1">Westlake closed out the second set with a strong 9-1 run. Keonda Johnson had two kills and a block to shift the momentum to the Rams and Catherine Armentor added two kills.</p><p class="p1">“They did a good job of fighting back out of that and winning that second set because that could have been a huge momentum shift,” Fontenot said. “I felt like that carried over into the third set.</p><p class="p1">“We did a good job keeping it up and finishing it out.”</p><p class="p1">Westlake opened the third set with a 3-0 lead and never trailed.</p><p class="p1">Jena Johnson led Westlake with 13 kills and 10 digs while Armentor finished with eight kills and five digs.</p><p class="p1">Skylar Glover led Sam Houston with 13 kills and Alania Bartie finished with a match-high 19 assists.</p>

<p class="p1">Westlake 25-25-25

<p class="p1">Sam Houston 19-19-19

<strong>Sam Houston (15-6)</strong>: Alania Bartie (19 assists, 2 kills), Skylar Glover (13 kills, 5 digs), McKenzie Grossi (9 digs), Madeline Manuel (6 kills). <strong>Westlake (15-0)</strong>: Jena Johnson (13 kills, 10 digs, 4 blocks), Catherine Armentor (8 kills, 5 digs), Keonda Johnson (6 kills, 3 aces, 5 blocks), Riley Rhodes (15 assists, 4 aces, 5 digs), Kennede Morris (15 assists, 6 digs, 2 blocks), Kayla Kennedy (14 digs).

<p>Sam Houston’s Jordan Cochran hits between the block of Westlake’s Catherin Armentor and Keonda Johnson.</p>Rodrick Anderson/American Press<p>Westlake’s Catherine Armentor goes on the attack while Sam Houston’s Maggie Cox tries to block her in a nondistrict match on Wednesday.</p>Rodrick Anderson/American Press