The Lady Eagles’ dream season continued Saturday night as they knocked off No. 2 Concordia University in a five-set thriller at Chase Gymnasium. The win bumped Biola up a spot in the national rankings from No. 3 to No 2. As the Eagles’ season begins to wind down, they have now beat 11 opponents ranked in the top 25 nationally; their new ranking is the highest in team history.
As the Eagles continue their 2008 campaign, their chances at a national title have never looked brighter; they have proven themselves against the toughest conference in the nation, and their victory over Concordia solidified their title bid.
Chase Gymnasium was rocking as the Eagles took the floor hoping to knock off a Concordia team they had not beat in three years – a team that made short work of Biola in a sweep just over a month ago. The first set began with both teams playing even to an 11-all tie when three consecutive kills from senior outside hitter Kelsey Mitchell got Biola rolling on a 7-1 run. Concordia was unable to close the gap and the Eagles rolled to a 25-18 victory.
Concordia used a long, six-point run in the second set to jump out to an early 12-7 lead, and Biola was not able to get closer than two points the rest of the way as Concordia tied the set count with a 25-21 win.
The all-important third set was a nail-biter featuring three lead changes and eight ties. Several early Biola leads weren’t enough, however, as Concordia powered back from being down 11-8 with a six-point run and went on to build a five-point cushion at 20-15. The Eagles fought back to a tie several times late in the game, but couldn’t close it out and fell 28-26.
Facing elimination, Biola rose to the occasion in the fourth set by stepping up the attack, hitting .385 as a team while committing only four errors. It almost wasn’t enough as the Eagles fell behind 10-13, but senior outside hitter Meghan Warkentin kept Biola in the fight by recording kills in five of the next nine points. Biola clung to a two-point lead going into the home stretch, but kept their night alive after a kill by senior outside hitter Jessica Buffum clinched their 25-21 victory.
In the rubber match, Biola got into trouble early on, falling behind 9-4, but they came alive after a timeout, rallying to a 12-11 lead. Another Buffum kill gave Biola a two-point advantage, and the teams traded service errors to put Biola on the brink of victory with a 14-12 lead, but a Concordia kill kept them alive. However, Biola wouldn’t be denied as Warkentin completed the upset with a kill.
Neither team had spectacular hitting numbers in the two-hour, ten-minute marathon match, but Biola senior Kelsey Mitchell had perhaps her best night of the season, hitting .565 to finish with 14 kills in only 23 attempts. Buffum had a team high 15 kills, but also rang up 13 errors en route to finishing with a .031 hitting percentage. Junior libero Katie Stevens led five players with double figures in digs with 24, and the setting duo of junior Abbie Wright and senior Christina Perkins combined for 48 assists.
“This year has been really special and such a blessing for all us seniors to be with such amazing women of God and to succeed in doing what we love,” said senior Christina Perkins, summing up the season thus far.
Tuesday night, the Eagles fell to their third overall loss of the season against top-ranked Fresno Pacific. Despite nearly knocking off Fresno in a five-set thriller earlier in the year, Biola couldn’t replicate the magic on the road, falling 25-16, 25-16, 22-25, and 25-12.
Fresno cruised to an early two-set lead, winning both sets 25-16 as Biola could not slow down the potent Fresno attack.
The Eagles found their rhythm in the third set and pounced on the unsuspecting Sunbirds early, jumping to a 14-6 lead before eventually winning 25-22. However, Fresno would not go down easily and they easily dismissed Biola in the fourth set 25-12.
The Eagles return to action on Nov. 8 against the Masters College, in one of the last chances for Eagle fans to take in a home game. The game begins at 7 p.m. at Chase Gymnasium.
