Volleyball sweeps Fresno Pacific

The Eagles earned a straight-set win in their home opener.

Joel Ashor, Sports Editor • September 8, 2018

Sophomore libero Sami Hover digs a ball out as two other volleyball players watch.

Sophomore libero Sami Hover digs a ball out during the Eagles’ game against Fresno Pacific University on Sept. 8, 2018. Photo by Thecla Li/The Chimes

Volleyball started PacWest play with their home opener against Fresno Pacific University, coming away with a sweep of the Sunbirds. The Eagles got strong offensive play from all their hitters, and appeared extremely prepared in the dominant win.

“We watched a lot of film and were ready for what they were gonna have and so we set up our block well and knew what to expect, and I think that made a big difference,” senior setter Brinley Beresford said.

The first set started out back-and-forth, but the Eagles went on a run to take a 14-9 lead on a kill from senior middle blocker Sierra Bauder. They would continue to control the set from there, as consecutive aces from sophomore setter Vanessa Garcia as well as several Sunbird hitting errors helped Biola win the set 25-20.

The second set saw FPU jump out to a quick 5-2 lead, but the Eagles climbed back into it with a kill from senior outside hitter Hannah Van Warmerdam to knot the score at eight. More Sunbird errors led to a 19-15 Eagles lead, and they closed out the set 25-18 on an ace from sophomore middle blocker Bekah Roth.

“The seniors played well, they were prepared, they had everybody ready to go. Sierra, Brinley, Hannah, I just thought that trio did a really good job of being ready,” said head coach Aaron Seltzer.

Biola jumped to an early lead in the third set, led by a quick kill from sophomore outside hitter Savannah Hilde. They continued to widen the gap, taking a 15-9 lead on a Beresford kill, and eventually closed the match out 25-16 on another Hilde smash.

“We definitely need to keep passing better, that’s kinda been our achilles heel so far this season. We’re serving a little bit tougher those things are going to be super important for us,” Seltzer said.

Bauder led the Eagles with nine kills, followed by senior opposite hitter Karly Dantuma with six. Roth led the defense with four blocks, while Beresford dished out 14 assists to set up the offense. Junior libero Kaitlin O’Brien led the back line with six digs.

The Eagles (5-3, 1-0 in conference) continue PacWest play at Point Loma Nazarene University on Tuesday at 7p.m.

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About the Contributor

Joel Ashor, Sports Editor

Joel Ashor is a junior broadcast journalism major with a love for sports, friends, and history. Joel is a Notre Dame football, Angels baseball, and Boston Celtics fan. [email protected] Growing up in the small city of Santa Maria, California as the youngest of four boys, I was always surrounded by things much earlier than normal, due to the fact that I experienced things through my much older brothers. One of the things I experienced was sports, and when I started watching and seeing what it looked like to be on a sports team, I fell in love. In my family, sports is not really an option, it just is something that we all do. Luckily my parents never had to force me or my brothers to play sports because we all had a passion for it. From a young age I immersed myself in the culture of sports, watching any sport that was on, growing a particular liking to college football. My uncle attended the University of Notre Dame, and my whole family are die-hard Irish fans. Naturally I became one as well, and I remember Saturday mornings with the family quite clearly. As I grew older I began to see and understand more about what it took to broadcast a live sports game, and I became quite intrigued by it. I decided I wanted to be involved with sports for the rest of my life and cover it in some form. One of the sports commentators I look up to greatly and have always liked is NBC sports reporter Bob Costas, who is a jack of all trades broadcaster and covers all sports from the Olympics to football and many more. I aspire to be a broadcast journalist someday, and the Chimes is an excellent way to hone my skills and continue to practice writing and talking about sports. I look forward to my growth while working with the Chimes in reporting accurately and quickly, and cannot wait to cover Biola sports.