The Biola volleyball team finished off the most difficult stretch of the first half of the season Tuesday night after a grueling stretch of games against four of the top ten teams in the nation. However, a tough loss on Saturday at No. 3 California Baptist was followed up with a thrilling come from behind victory over Westmont at home on Tuesday.
The Eagles traveled to Riverside to face Cal Baptist the first time this season, but were not able to keep up with Cal Baptist who had three players with 16 or more kills. The scrappy Cal Baptist team dug out nearly everything that the Eagles had to offer, and it translated into a big night at the net for their three hitters.
The Eagles gutted out a second set victory against the home team, but didn’t come close in any of the other sets. Cal Baptist, stinging from an upset at the hands of No. 25 Vanguard last week, was determined not to fall asleep at the wheel again and won by a final score of 25-13, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-15.
On Tuesday, newly ranked Westmont came to Biola hoping to upset the No. 17 Eagles, and after putting a scare to the Eagle faithful with a first-set 25-21 victory, Biola came storming back to take the next set 25-8 and then rolled in the next two for a final score of 21-25, 25-8, 26-24 and 25-22.
Senior middle blocker Kelsey Christopherson flourished against Westmont after a brief, but successful foray as an outside hitter. Against the Warriors, Christopherson collected 18 kills, and a triplet of threes, with three errors, digs and blocks. Her counterpart, junior Tavea Hampton, had an outstanding game as well with 16 kills and five blocks. The two middles accounted for 34 of Biola’s 55 kills, and hit a combined .451 on the night.
In the first set, the Eagles fell behind after three consecutive attack errors set them back 1-4, and the Warriors held the momentum early on. It looked like a routine blowout with Westmont leading 18-8, but the Eagles stormed back to within three at 21-24 after denying Westmont on four consecutive set points, but couldn’t pull off the comeback in the end.
The Eagles momentum swelled over into the second set and after gaining a respectable 12-7 lead, Biola buried the Warriors by winning 13 of the next 14 points. The Eagles eight points allowed was their lowest on the season, and Westmont went the entire set without recording consecutive points, hitting -.179 as a team compared to Biola’s .444.
The third set was a much tighter affair. The teams traded points until 13-all, and Westmont broke open a small lead and seem poised to take a near-insurmountable 2-1 set lead at 23-19. Two consecutive Biola blocks left the Warriors scrambling for a time out, but a hitting error and a kill by senior outside Meghan Cunningham erased Westmont’s lead and left the game tied at 23. After trading points to tie it at 24, another attack error by Westmont and a Christopherson kill sealed the game for Biola and eliminated what could have been a painful blow.
There was less drama in the fourth and final set, as Biola opened up an early lead and eventually ran in up to 19-13 until Westmont won seven of nine points to come within a point at 21-20. Another Christopherson kill and subsequent Westmont hitting error gave the Eagles some breathing room, until the senior middle gave it back to the Warriors with a service error. In a critical game for both teams in the hyper – competitive GSAC, the Eagles were able to pull out the win after a block by freshman Nicolette Mather and Hampton bounced just out of Westmonts reach.
The Eagles moved up one spot in the latest NAIA poll despite losing four of the last six, largely due to their good performances against the best teams in the nation. Unlike every other conference in the nation, being unranked is an anomaly in the GSAC – the latest poll had eight of the ten teams in the top 25 overall.
Biola travels to Costa Mesa to face No. 25 Vanguard on Thursday night before hosting San Diego Christian on Tuesday at Chase Gymansium.
