Many top-ranked volleyball teams in the country have several aspirations for each season: Win your conference, make it to nationals and finish as close as you can to first.
The Biola volleyball team came into the season with another goal: Win every match.
The prospect of an undefeated season is something of which many teams can only dream, but with the personnel and talent level on the team, it looked like a very possible outcome.
Unfortunately, this season’s goal was cut short on Saturday night when volleyball dropped their first match of the season to Concordia University Irvine, 3-1.
Coming in as the No. 1 ranked team and not having lost a game since Dec. 3, 2011, Concordia knows what the most successful season can look like. In 2012 the CUI Eagles went 38-0 and were crowned national champions during the December tournament.
The match started out somewhat slow for Biola as they dropped a close first set 25-23. BU retaliated and drew level 1-1 with Concordia in the second set, thanks to impressive performances from junior middle blocker Amy Weststeyn and sophomore outside hitter Joclyn Kirton, who totaled 10 kills.
WINNING STREAK BROKEN
The third set was level at 20 until CUI tallied four unanswered points, two off attack errors, and ultimately took the set 25-21.
Concordia jumped out to an early 9-5 lead in set four. Biola fought back, and thanks to two service aces from sophomore right-side hitter Crissy Cunningham, took a 13-12 lead midway through the set. Both teams exchanged points for a while, but a four-point run from Concordia led to a 19-16 lead.
Despite never falling behind by more than two points, Biola was unable to reclaim the lead and lost the final set 25-22.
Aside from taking away what could have been an undefeated season, the loss did not change all that much.
The Eagles remained ranked No. 3 in the nation and still hold a commanding second place lead in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.
While disappointing in the moment, the loss will hopefully fade and give Biola more of a boost to continue playing at the high level they have been at for so long.
The Eagles will have the opportunity to show what a dominant team they really are this weekend when the team heads to Texas for the University of Texas Brownsville Crossover Tournament.
Following a tough matchup with Concordia, Biola’s next competitor is the No. 2 team in the nation, Texas Brownsville, on Friday night. The Eagles will then face No. 22 Columbia College on Saturday before returning home to continue GSAC play next week.
There is no reason to expect that this team won’t make the playoffs or won’t be in the national contender conversation. This loss is just a small speed bump in a season-long journey.
With 15 wins, 11 shutouts and 46 sets won so far this season, its pretty safe to say that this is a good volleyball team.
So don’t panic yet. There’s a good chance you’ll see the Eagles playing for the national title in December.
