After arriving in Hawaii Tuesday, volleyball took on Chaminade University Wednesday night to kick off a three-game stint against Hawaii schools in the PacWest. They came away with a four-set victory led by resilient play and a strong offensive showing from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Christina DenBoer.
In set one, the Silverswords came out strong to take a 7-1 lead to force a timeout from head coach Aaron Seltzer. Biola clawed their way back, closing the gap to 17-13 on a kill from senior middle blocker Sierra Bauder. From there, the Chaminade hitting errors began to mount, and a second consecutive error gave the Eagles their first lead of the set at 22-21. Several more hitting errors from the Silverswords and a smash from DenBoer gave Biola the 27-25 comeback win.
The second set was even much of the way, as senior outside hitter Hannah Van Warmerdam put the Eagles on top 8-7 early. DenBoer made it 18-16 later in the set, but a six-point run from the Silverswords gave them a 22-18 win. They closed the set out 25-19 on an ace to even the match up at one set apiece.
Biola came out firing in the third set, gaining a 9-2 advantage on a kill from senior setter Brinley Beresford. DenBoer put down yet another kill to put the Eagles up 20-10, and they took the set 25-15 in commanding fashion.
The first set looked much like the second as DenBoer tied things up at eight early. Senior opposite hitter Karly Dantuma put the Eagles ahead 15-10 on a kill. Junior outside hitter Sabrina Winslow edged Biola close to the win with a kill to make it 21-12, and another Silverswords hitting error closed the match out 25-14.
DenBoer led the offense with an astounding 19 kills, followed by Dantuma with 10. Beresford tallied 23 assists while sophomore setter Vanessa Garcia put up 21. Reigning Pacwest defender of the week, sophomore libero Sami Hover put up 12 digs, followed by Garcia with 10. Biola (14-5, 10-2 PacWest) continue play at Hawaii Pacific University on Wednesday at 10 p.m.
