Biola traveled to nearby PacWest rival Concordia University Irvine looking to keep their first-place spot in the conference intact. The Eagles came away with a hard-fought victory in four sets over the Eagles of Concordia.
The first set was tight throughout, but an ace from sophomore middle blocker Bekah Roth put Biola ahead 17-13 late in the set. Senior setter Brinley Beresford made the score 21-16 on a kill, and another ace, this time from sophomore setter Vanessa Garcia, gave the Eagles the 25-18 set win.
The aces continued to come in the second set, as junior outside hitter Sabrina Winslow served one up for a 9-3 Biola lead. Consecutive aces from Winslow made the score 20-15 and they closed out the set 25-18 on a kill from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Christina DenBoer.
CUI came out determined in the third set, gaining a 13-10 lead early. A kill from senior opposite hitter Karly Dantuma closed the gap to 19-16 CUI, but the other Eagles came away with a 25-19 set win.
Determined to close the match out in four sets, Biola came out firing in the fourth, taking a quick 4-0 lead on a kill from DenBoer. Dantuma then smashed one home for a 13-2 lead and the set was well in hand. Senior outside hitter Hannah Van Warmerdam got in on the action with a kill to pull the lead to 21-9, and Biola won the match 25-10 on a kill from Roth.
Facing off against her cousin Julia DenBoer for the second time this season, Christina DenBoer led the way for the offense with a dominant 15 kills, followed by Dantuma with 14 and Winslow with 12. Winslow also recorded five aces, while Dantuma put up a whopping seven blocks. Garcia tallied 31 assists and Beresford put up 14. Sophomore libero Sami Hover held down the back row with 23 digs.
Biola (18-5, 14-2 PacWest) take on archrival Azusa Pacific University on the road in a huge matchup of top PacWest teams on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
