Biola cruises to wins against Westminster and Carroll

The Biola women’s volleyball team improved to 9-3 on the season by defeating four teams in two days at the 2011 Concordia University Labor Day Festival in Irvine. Biola started off with wins against Westminster College, 25-12, 25-14, 25-18 and Carroll College, 25-14, 25-22, 13-25, 25-12 on Friday, the first day of the tournament.

Junior Nicolette Mather finished the day with 23 kills, 11 against Westminster. Fellow Junior Rachel Buckley tied a school record with nine blocks, while junior Christine Douglas added 10 kills with no errors. Biola cruised to a victory by winning the first three sets of the match.

After taking a short break, the Eagles returned to the court to take on Carroll. Mather and Douglas had 12 kills each, while senior Sarah Schweiger added 10. Senior Christian Woodruff contributed 17 digs and freshman Amy Weststeyn recorded five blocks to round out the Eagles’ many impressive individual performances for the day.

Eagles continue with dominant performances

On Saturday, the Eagles defeated Concordia University (N.Y.) 25-12, 25-12, 25-19 and Cal State San Marcos 25-21, 25-20, 25-23 to continue their solid start of the season. Weststeyn slammed down 18 of her overall 27 kills in Biola’s three-set win against Concordia. She also added five blocks. Sophomore Chelsee Arnitz contributed 10 kills and had two blocks of her own. Biola ran into little trouble in getting the victory.

In the final match of the tournament, Biola faced off against Cal State San Marcos. Although Biola won the first three sets, none of them was decided by more than five points. Schweiger paced the Eagle’s with 12 kills and Weststeyn added nine kills and seven blocks.

Biola will return to the court to compete in the two-day Point Loma Nazarene University tournament beginning on Friday, Sept. 9. It is the final of the Eagles’ four pre-conference tournaments.