Fresh off of their resounding victory against University of Texas-Brownsville on Thursday, the Biola volleyball team walked into the Vanguard University Lions’ gym with their heads held high. The first time these two teams met, Biola swept the Lions in straight sets. The third set went to a score of 30-28 to show that Vanguard was not a team to be taken lightly. They proved that fact again in the match Saturday night, taking Biola to five sets and nearly pulling out the upset.

In the first set, both teams rallied back and forth, committing a number of early errors. However, when the Lions drew even with the Eagles at 11-11, Biola started to pull ahead, where it would stay for the rest of the set. The Eagles went on to win the first set 25-19.

The Lions responded with ferocity in the second set, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. Biola was able to rally back to bring the score within two points, but would never get any closer as Vanguard went on to a commanding 25-17 win.

The story proved much the same for the third game, with Vanguard taking it 25-19, and it looked as if No. 24 ranked Vanguard was going to pull out the upset against No. 5 Biola. The Eagles fought back in a tough fourth set, managing a 25-21 victory.

Biola controlled the entirety of the fifth set. The only tie occurred at 0-0 at which point Biola scored the first point and would not allow Vanguard to even the score for the duration of the set. The Lions put up a fight, but turned out to not be quite enough, Biola winning the fifth set 15-11.

Senior middle blocker Amy Weststeyn was essential to the Eagles’ offense, racking up a total of 20 kills, seven blocks and only one attacking error. This marks the fifth time this season she has gotten over 20 kills in a match, and she also led all hitters with a .514 kill percentage. Junior outside hitter Britta Blaser also had a big night offensively, with 13 kills.

The Eagle’s next match is on Friday against Arizona Christian in Chase Gymnasium at 7 pm.