The highly anticipated Biola vs. Cal Baptist volleyball match took place on Saturday night with parents and students filling every seat of Chase Gymnasium.
Coming into the match ranked fourth in the nation, Biola opened the match with every intention of claiming CBU’s No. 3 ranking. Despite their attempts to hold off the Eagles, Biola made it look easy against the Lancer squad, overwhelming them with scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 26-24.
Junior setter Abbie Wright set the tone on the first play of the game, serving up an ace, and Biola didn’t look back, hitting an absolutely dominant .478 in the first set. The huge crowd of nearly 1,100 was delirious for a Biola victory, evidenced by the referee crossing the court at one point to warn several overzealous fans.
In the second set, Biola jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead due to the efforts of senior outside hitters Jessica Buffum and Meghan Warkentin, who finished with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. The Eagles continued to roll over the Lancers, holding CBU to a .103 hitting percentage, and forcing 10 errors with only five kills in over 40 attempts.
In the third set the Lancers finally showed signs of life, running to a quick 6-1 lead, forcing Biola to play catch-up for the entire set. CBU was able to fend off the Eagles until a kill from Warkentin gave Biola the lead, 21-20. While they still had a chance to win the set at 24-23, a service error tied the game and another error gave Biola the match point. Kelsey Christopherson capitalized on the opportunity, finishing the match with her sixth kill.
Senior outside hitter Kelsey Mitchell had perhaps her best match to date, recording a team-high 12 kills with only one error for a .455 hitting percentage. The setting duo of Abbie Wright and senior Christina Perkins combined for 35 set assists and the well rounded defensive effort saw five Biola players record multiple blocks.
With the win, Biola takes possession of the No. 2 ranking in the GSAC and is expected to move up in the national rankings.
On Tuesday night the Eagles traveled to Santa Barbara to face longtime rival Westmont. Biola has been riding high lately, defeating two top-25 teams and moving up a spot in the rankings to third in the nation. They didn’t give Westmont any leeway, going home with a sweep at 25-17, 25-15, 25-15.
Biola dominated Westmont in nearly all aspects of the game. Offensively they were able to rack up a .351 hitting percentage largely because of the efforts of middle blockers junior Kelsey Christopherson and senior Kristen Peterson, who combined for 12 kills and no errors while compiling a .727 hitting percentage.
The Eagles cruised to victory in the first set, holding Westmont to just eight kills while forcing six errors.
Westmont was able to put up a fight in the second set before junior setter Abbie Wright rang up seven consecutive serves with two aces to turn a close 18-15 game into a blowout.
Biola didn’t look back in the third set, jumping to a 6-1 lead and eventually running the score to 11-3 before Westmont finally showed up. It wasn’t enough, though, as the Eagles still rolled to a 25-15 victory.
The Eagles had a strong team effort in this game and were able to get nearly every player into the match. Biola also dominated the net play, with 11 blocks to Westmont’s two.
Biola returns to action on Thursday night against Vanguard at 7 in Chase Gymnasium.
