Biola volleyball returned to its winning ways this week as the Eagles swept both arch-rival Azusa Pacific University and The Master’s College in two Golden State Athletic Conference matches. Biola improves to 22-5 on the season, and 13-2 in GSAC.
The Eagles bounced back to take this pair of sweeps after last week’s loss to No. 1 Fresno Pacific University snapped the Eagles’ 11-match winning streak.
Saturday’s game against The Master’s College
On Saturday, Biola swept The Master’s 26-24, 25-21, 25-22 in Chase Gymnasium.
The first set was a close one, with 14 ties and 10 lead changes, until the Mustangs committed four straight errors and gave Biola a 21-18 lead. Master’s came back and almost took the set when they took the lead at 24-23, but the Eagles made three straight points to win the set 26-24.
The second set found the Eagles taking an early 13-5 lead by going on a nine-point run.
Master’s was able to come within two points of Biola late in the set, which brought the score to 21-19. But, the Eagles once again were able to pull away with the win, this time by exchanging points with The Mustangs until Biola took the set 25-21.
Lead changes made the third set more interesting. After going up 11-8, The Master’s lost the lead to a Biola run which gave the Eagles the upper hand at 13-12.
The Master’s used a 4-1 run to take the lead back at 16-14, but Biola followed the Mustang attack with a five-point run that gave the Eagles enough momentum to propel them through the set to win 25-22 and take the match.
Nicolette Mather led the Eagles with 12 kills and only one error, while sophomore Christine Douglas added 10 kills.
Tuesday night’s game against APU
On Tuesday night, over 1,000 fans packed Chase Gymnasium to witness No. 3 Biola make an easy 25-21, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of No. 8 Azusa Pacific.
The Eagles started out strong in the first set, as junior outside hitter Kim Russell recorded two kills and an ace right off the bat. Biola led 7-1 after Azusa committed three straight errors.
However, Azusa slowly chipped away at Biola’s lead until the Cougars brought themselves within one point at 8-7. But the Eagles pulled away, increasing their lead again to 20-14. After exchanging points a bit with Azusa, a block by seniors Tavea Hampton and Amy Mosebar gave Biola the set at 25-21.
In the second set, Biola used two runs to take the upper hand, first holding the lead at 7-2 and then increasing the gap to 15-7. Each team scored ten more points before the Eagles comfortably took the set 25-17.
Azusa held its largest lead for the entire match in the third set, when they broke a 7-7 tie to go up 11-8. Biola was able to quickly rally back to tie the score at 12-12, and then took the lead at 14-12 thanks to a kill by Russell and an Azusa attack error. Even though the Cougars were able to tie the score again at 15-15 a few points later, the Eagles steadily outscored Azusa through the rest of the set. A kill by senior setter Abbie Wright finally ended the set and match in Biola’s favor, with the set’s final score at 25-21.
Russell led Biola’s offensive attack with 14 kills, two aces and two blocks. Mosebar contributed 10 kills and no errors, and Hampton added seven kills and four blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Mather continued her impressive play over the last few matches, recording nine kills and three assists.
The Eagles continue a difficult week of matches, starting with this evening’s non-conference match against No. 5 University of Texas-Brownsville at 7 p.m. in Chase Gymnasium.
On Saturday, Biola will travel to play No. 6 California Baptist University in a conference contest.
