Junior Rachel Buckley celebrates with teammates during Biola’s victory on Tuesday night over Point Loma Nazarene. | Tyler Otte/THE CHIMES
Eagles lose third straight five-set match, then win at home against PLNU
Biola volleyball suffered quite a devastating loss, losing their third straight five-set match against Westmont College 3-2 on Saturday night in Santa Barbara, Calif. They then turned around and beat National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 9 Point Loma Nazarene University 3-1 at home on Tuesday night.
Against Westmont, Biola started off on the bottom, trailing 11-10 in the first set. But the Eagles were able to pick up the pace, widening the gap and ultimately sailing to a 25-15 win in the first set.
Westmont powered back, taking a strong 10-3 lead. Biola was able to bounce back, narrowing the gap to 16-15, but Westmont then went on to earn the next six points, leaving them with a 22-15 lead. The two teams exchanged points from then on, but Westmont was able to pull out the win 25-19 and even up the match at 1-1.
The Eagles came into the third set ready to play, keeping a strong lead throughout the entire set, ultimately leading to a 25-18 win.
With the match now at 2-1 in favor of Biola, the fourth set got interesting as the two teams battled back and forth for points, eventually finding themselves at 24-24. After a point scored by Biola, the Warriors closed up the fourth set 27-25 on back-to-back kills.
Biola loses deciding fifth set 15-9
The Warriors led the fifth set from start to finish, taking the set winning 15-9 and ultimately stealing the overall win from the Eagles.
Junior Christine Douglas paved the way for Biola, leading with 19 kills in the match.
“I made a lot of errors so I wish I would have done more,” Douglas said.
Biola sought a win against No. 9 Point Loma at home
The Eagles looked for redemption at home as they came out Tuesday night against the Point Loma Sea Lions.
“My personal goals for this game are to be confident and consistent. I want to be a vocal leader on and off the court and always stay positive no matter what happens,” senior Christian Woodruff said going into the game.
The Sea Lions powered through the first set, pulling out a win of 25-22.
Talcott leads Biola past Point Loma in the second set, gives Eagles chance to win
Point Loma came into the second set and took the lead 3-0, but Biola fired back taking an 8-5 lead after a kill by senior Joy Talcott. Biola continued to keep the points rolling, pulling out an eight point lead of 20-12 after a kill by junior Rachel Buckley. The Sea Lions powered back, closing the gap 21-19. But in the end Biola pulled out the win, 25-21.
Biola came into the third set ready to play, taking a quick 9-2 lead with a kill by Douglas. Biola continued to score, widening the gap 16-5. Multiple kills by Douglas widened the gap even more, giving Biola the lead and the set win, 25-11.
Going into the fourth set, the pressure was on the Sea Lions. After much rallying, the score continued to go back and forth. A kill by freshman Delaney McCraney gave the Sea Lions the lead they were looking for. However, they were not able to keep it for long because back to back kills by freshman Rachel Krueger and Douglas put the Eagles back on top. Biola stretched their lead even more from that point and finally ended the game on a kill by sophomore Nicolette Mather, 25-16.
The NAIA No. 12 Eagles improved to 4-3 in the GSAC after the week. They next play Saturday, Oct. 8 at San Diego Christian College(http://sdcc.edu/Athletics.aspx), then they come back home on Tuesday, Oct. 11 to take on Fresno Pacific University at 7 p.m.
