With three straight wins and victories in four of the last five, the Biola volleyball team is putting together some of their best volleyball at just the right time despite costly injuries.
After upsetting then No. 9 Point Loma on the road Saturday night, Biola came back to defend home court against Hope International on Tuesday, winning a tough first set 32-30, then cleaning up with 25-14 victories in the final two sets.
Biola was rewarded for their strong play Tuesday morning when the NAIA released its latest poll, logging its highest climb up the ladder this season at No. 14, up five spots from last week. If the first two weeks of October gave the Eagles hope for the future of their season the next two weeks could crush it: by Nov. 6, Biola will have played five top-ten teams in 19 days, including the three best teams in the nation.
Until then however, the Eagles can enjoy their first time above .500 in the GSAC since early October at 6-5 in the conference and 15-7 overall.
With fresh injuries taking down junior defensive specialist Lindsey Dietzen and senior middle Kelsey Christopherson, the Eagles dressed only ten players against Point Loma and nine against Hope International (sophomore outside Kim Russell warmed up but did not play).
In recent years, a trip to Point Loma has nearly always spelled defeat for the Eagles – before Saturday Biola had only won once in the last eleven years against Point Loma. This time the Eagles shook off their first set blues and jumped on the Sea Lions, running to a 10-1 lead. That point cushion wouldn’t fall below eight the rest of the set as the Eagles took the first set 25-16.
With six blocks in the first set, Biola set the tone for the match, in which they recorded 18 total team blocks, their highest tally in nearly a decade, including twelve from freshman Rachel Buckley who filled in for Christopherson.
Tied at 6-6 in the second set, the Sea Lions rolled off four straight points and took a lead the Eagles couldn’t recover, eventually losing 25-15.
The pivotal third set was a tighter affair. The Eagles started strong with a 7-3 lead but the Sea Lions slowly crept back into the fray to tie the match at 14-all. Up 23-20 Point Loma looked to take a commanding 2-1 set lead, but two Russell kills, two Buckley blocks and a Point Loma attack error later, Biola walked away with a stunning come from behind win.
The Eagles smelled upset in the fourth set and didn’t allow a single Point Loma lead, going wire to wire for a 25-20 victory to secure the match win, which combined with Point Loma’s loss to Vanguard earlier in the week to send the Sea Lions ranking plummeting from No. 9 to No. 17.
Junior Tavea Hampton continued her breakout season at middle for the Eagles, recording team high 12 kills in only 18 swings for a .500 average, and also recorded five blocks, two solo.
Freshman setter Justine Schoneveld recorded 41 assists while freshman outside Janae O’Connor had a match high 24 digs.
Against Hope on Tuesday, the Eagles gave a near repeat of their performance against San Diego Christian a week ago and nearly dropped the first set before eventually eking out a 32-30 win.
It was a downhill battle from there as Biola easily wrapped up the next two sets 25-14 and 25-14. Hampton again took home top honors with 16 kills in 23 attempts for a .652 average, and seven blocks. The entire Eagle squad had a good night at the net in fact, finishing with a .324 team hitting percentage.
The Eagles hit the road against No. 3 Concordia on Oct. 17 before hosting No. 1 Fresno Pacific on Saturday.
