The No.1 women’s volleyball team dropped their first set in the Golden State Athletic Conference to Westmont University on Sept. 22. After five closely contested sets, the Eagles took the victory by a score of 3-2.

A Win and a Loss

Biola opened the match jumping to an early lead of 6-1 in the first set and continued to win the set by a score of 25-19.

The Warriors answered back in the second set, going on a five point streak to bring the score to 15-10. They took advantage and won by a score of 25-20 on a blocking error by Biola. This was the first set Biola dropped in the past 10 games.  

“Honestly, I think we were kind of shocked because we were expecting a little bit of an easier game,” said senior outside hitter Joclyn Kirton. “But we also knew that Westmont comes out super strong and they were super stoked to play us, so we knew that we just needed to keep all of the attention on our side and focus on our game and play the best we can.”  

Neck in Neck

Biola took back the advantage by winning a very close third set. With the score tied at 21-21, the Eagles went on a 4-1 run, fueled by three kills from freshman outside hitter Christina DenBoer to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead.  

Not allowed to lose another set, the Warriors threw everything they had into the fourth. It came down to the final points again, with both teams tied at 20-20. The Eagles were not able to close out the victory as Westmont won 25-23, forcing a fifth set.

Championship Poise

The Eagles ended up 11 points away from losing their first game of the season as the Warriors forced a 4-4 tie in the final set. Thanks to aggressive kills and championship poise, Biola pulled out the victory with a 15-9 fifth set score. Freshman opposite Karly Dantuma recorded five kills in the set.

“Our hitters and our blockers were on point,” said senior setter Ashton Arbuthnot. “It was one of those sets where for me as a setter I felt confident going to anybody in my front row. I wasn’t afraid to set any position and they were all swinging away, which makes a huge difference.”

DenBoer led the team with 19 kills, followed by Kirton with 18. Junior setter Tori Moons provided the most sets at 33, accompanied by Arbuthnot at 30.  

Biola currently holds a record of 13-0 while being 5-0 in conference. Their next game is against The Master’s College at home on Sept. 26. Master’s is currently 11-6 while being 4-1 in GSAC.