If the Eagles had the same success against highly ranked teams in their home gym as they did on the road, they wouldn’t be in sixth place in the GSAC.
It was a bittersweet week for Biola volleyball – a critical road win against the No. 3 Concordia, the Eagles ran their winning streak to four games, bumping their standing in the latest NAIA rankings to a season high No. 11, and junior Tavea Hampton won GSAC player of the week honors. The good times didn’t last for long – No. 1 Fresno Pacific took advantage of a sloppy Eagles effort in front of the hometown crowd and handed Biola its first three game sweep of the season.
After a big road win against then No. 9 Point Loma last week, the Eagles traveled to Irvine to take on Concordia, who beat Biola 3-1 at Chase Gymnasium in mid-September. Needing another win to remain competitive in the GSAC, where seven teams are ranked in the top 14 nationally, the Eagles played some of their best volleyball of the season to pull out a 3-2 victory.
Neither team established control in a first set that saw 11 score ties and six lead changes. Biola rebounded from a 10-13 deficit and finally took the lead for good on a Kim Russell kill that brought the score to 20-19. A Biola ace and Concordia hitting error gave the Eagles a three point lead that would hold up for a win.
Concordia rode opposite Amber Ridens to open the second set, jumping to a 7-0 lead after four Ridens kills. It was the start of a long night of work for the junior who rang up a game high 18 kills, six coming in the second set, a 25-17 victory for the home town Eagles.
In the pivotal third set, Biola came out swinging away, taking control of the set after a 9 all tie and building up to a 25-18 win. The Eagles took advantage of careless Concordia serving and hitting errors, partially induced by the dominant Biola net play. For the third straight match the Eagles recorded ten or more blocks.
Needing to win two games for the comeback victory and needing just one more set to wrap up one of the biggest NAIA upsets all year, the fourth set was a battle of who wanted it least. Both teams hit sub-.060, and 29 of the 44 total points were decided by errors or service aces. In the end, Concordia capitalized and forced the Eagles into only their second fifth set of the year with a 25-23 win.
It was the first fifth set since the Eagles first match of the year- but the young team handled it like they have been doing it all year long – holding a lead for the entire set en route to a convincing 15-8 win that snapped a four-year losing streak to Concordia at their gym.
Kim Russell had a team high 16 kills after taking a match off to rest her injured knee, and senior middle Kelsey Christopherson played through a sprained ankle to collect nine kills and four blocks.
If beating Concordia was a season high for the Eagles, Tuesday night’s game against Fresno Pacific was close to the seasons low. Going into the match hoping to confirm their status as an elite team in the GSAC, Biola was handed their worst loss of the season by a stifling Fresno team.
The Sunbirds held Biola to a .062 hitting percentage on the match, winning 25-7, 25-21 and 25-18. The Eagles could do little right in the embarrassing first set, and Fresno refused to repeat last season when their sole loss came against the Eagles at Chase Gym.
