Senior night marks the final regular season home match for each sport. Biola volleyball hosted theirs on Oct. 29, honoring the performance of their two seniors, middle Olivia Sorensen and setter Tori Moons.
A challenging opponent
“Everyone was really on fire and it was nice because we were all playing for each other,” Moons said. “Everyone was excited to win.”
This night also brought a challenging opponent for the Eagles, as they faced The Master’s University Mustangs, a team that took a five-set victory over Biola earlier in the season. As if the team needed more pressure, the winner of the match would earn a berth into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament while the loser would go home empty-handed.
A sweep
Fortunately for Biola, the women played a fantastic game, sweeping the Mustangs in straight sets to improve their overall record to 21-9 and take sole possession of second place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings with an 11-3 record.
“It was our best match in at least two months, by far. And it was a good time to have it,” said head coach Aaron Seltzer. “It was good for the girls to play well on senior night. Everybody was excited.”
That excitement translated into a fantastic opening set, as the Eagles’ offense came out firing on all cylinders. They finished the first set with a 25-18 win courtesy of a quality .286 kill percentage while holding The Master’s to a negative .071 kill percentage.
Commanding momentum
That momentum continued into the second set, where the Mustangs earned only one extra point over the first game as Biola went on to a 25-19 set win. Again, Master’s kill percentage went into the red, as they finished at negative .029.
The third set stayed close the entire way, as the Mustangs cleaned up their offense to finish with a very solid .250 kill percentage off 15 kills. However, the Eagles responded in kind, tallying 20 kills and a .269 kill percentage. In total, The Master’s hit only at .075, a far cry from their season average of .234.
Sophomore opposite Karly Dantuma led the Eagles in kills, putting 15 balls to the floor against the stout Mustangs’ back row. Three other Eagles tied for second-most kills on the night, as sophomore outsides Hannah van Warmerdam and Brooke Watts and sophomore opposite Stephanie Jewett each finished with seven.
Biola has two more conference matches they have to win in order to secure their trip to the NAIA playoffs, and the Eagles start with the San Diego Christian College Hawks on Nov. 3 in El Cajon, Calif. at 7:30 p.m.
