GSAC championship for men’s soccer among many success this fall

Three national tournament trips and four All-American awards have ushered the fall sports season to a close. Both men’s and women’s cross-country teams made the national tournament along with the men’s soccer team and women’s volleyball team.

The men’s soccer team started off the season well until they ran into injury problems at the start of the Golden State Athletic Conference season. The Eagles lost numerous players to injuries, leading to a 5-4 record in conference play.

Men’s soccer surged through the GSAC tournament and into the championship game against Concordia University. The Eagles battled back in the championship game to defeat Concordia in double overtime to win the GSAC tournament and clinch a spot in the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Tournament.

Nationals was short-lived for the Eagles who were beaten in a penalty-kick shootout by Hannibal-LaGrange University 4-2 in their first-round matchup.

“It was extremely tough to go out on penalty kicks, especially when we had four seniors who had made our penalty kicks in nationals two years ago,” senior defender Cody Shelton said. “I just figured we would do it again, but instead we lost and it sucks knowing we should still be in the tournament because we were the better team.”

Senior goalkeeper Aaron Fenlason repeated as an NAIA All-American with Shelton receiving an honorable mention. Fenlason earned GSAC Defensive Player of the Week twice as well as NAIA Defensive Player of the Week in the season’s final week. Head coach Bryan Kuderman recorded his 100th victory in his 10th season at Biola earlier in the season.

The women’s soccer team’s season came to a disappointing end as they lost to The Master’s College in penalty kicks in the opening round of the GSAC tournament.

The Eagles had a successful run in conference play posting a 7-2-0 record with a 10-6-1 record on the season.

Biola had five players selected to the All-GSAC team, tying Concordia for most players chosen.

Sophomore forward Jessica Austin led the team in scoring with nine goals and ranked third in the GSAC in total goals scored.

Cross-country and volleyball come away with All-Americans

Both men’s and women’s cross-country teams placed second at the GSAC championships. Senior Collin Christensen, who finished sixth overall, led the men, closely followed by senior Brian Aukshunas, who placed ninth. Senior Nychele Fischetti’s fourth place finish and fellow senior Carissa Bowman’s 10th place led the women.

Following a succesful showing at the conference championships, both teams reached the 2011 NAIA Cross-Country National Championships, with the men going for the first time since 1999 while it was the women’s fifth-consecutive appearance.

The men’s team finished a disappointing 26th at nationals and the women finished 12th.

Christensen led the men and finished 29th overall and was named an All-American. Fischetti led the women with a 46th place finish overall and it was the women’s team’s fifth consecutive top-12 finish.

“I am looking forward to continuously working with a team,” said freshman Carrie Soholt, on her outlook on next year’s team. “Each year I’m sure will be unique, but regardless of that, being able to work hard as a team and help each other accomplish personal and team goals is awesome and extremely rewarding. Being a part of a team is like having a second family and that team aspect is what I am looking forward to the most.”

The Eagles women’s volleyball team was up and down throughout conference play and finished with a 10-8 record against GSAC opponents. A highlight of the team’s season was when they defeated then NAIA No. 1 undefeated University of Texas-Brownsville on Oct. 27.

The team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship where they fell to Lee University in three straight sets.

Biola powered through the first rounds of the NAIA tournament, including wins over No. 4 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and No. 11 Fresno Pacific University. The ninth-ranked Eagles met their match with Lee though, who ended Biola’s 2011 season.

The team had a pair of milestones throughout the season with head coach Aaron Seltzer achieving his 250th career victory and All-American junior outside hitter Christine Douglas collecting her 1,000th career kill. Freshman middle blocker Amy Weststeyn, who was also named an All-American as well as NAIA Freshman of the Year, finished as the top blocker in the GSAC with a Biola single-season record 150 blocks.

“I think that the team is going to be good next year,” senior Christian Woodruff said. “We have some awesome new players coming in and some good leaders coming out of our underclassmen. I’m looking forward to seeing how the team plays next year.”

With 19 seniors leaving these programs, the teams are looking to their strong youth to carry them into the future.

Spring sports feature much to anticipate

With fall season now over there is much to look forward to in spring sports. The baseball team looks to be lead by NAIA Preseason All-American Drake Fages to the NAIA World Series. The track and field team will build off the momentum gained from a strong cross country season and improve upon a men’s third place finish and women’s second place finish. Softball will battle to avenge last year’s first-round dismissal from the GSAC playoffs and men’s and women’s golf look to build off of their strong start this fall.