Biola hosted Hawaii Pacific University on Wednesday night in a PacWest Conference game. The Eagles look to regain momentum and strive for a win following two losses in as many days. Biola was able to come back from their previous losses by defeating the Sharks, 3-0.
In the first set, after a few falters, Biola was able to regain the lead. Biola had led with 14 kills where freshman middle blocker Reagan Tjepkema earned 5 of those kills. They also had 16 total digs, as five were made by junior libero Sami Hover. The Eagles were victorious in their 25-17 win against the Sharks.
A fiery start to their second set, Biola battled to keep a shutout game against the Sharks. Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the second set, as they win 25-19. They had 17 kills as Tjepkema took reigns in the overall lead with 10 of her own kills and Hover led with 11 of her own in the total 16 digs, which matched their first set.
The third and final set was a tight competition of rallies. The errors began to pile up on Biola, a combined total of 22 errors from each match overbore the girls. However, the Eagles had a total of 45 kills, a .385 hitting percentage, 42 assists and 51 digs. The Sharks had battled it out to try to earn a win, but Biola shut them out. They won the game in a 3-0 shutout, 25-21.
DIGGING INTO A WIN
“We were expectant and ready to defend and our blocking was amazing tonight,” said junior setter Vanessa Garcia. “I hope to see some more consistency, and limit errors.”
Their last two losses had been their motivation to earn another win this game. To get back on track they had outranked the Sharks in clean serves and digs.
“I thought we defended well, we also blocked really well. I thought Reagan, our middle, also played fantastic,” said head coach Aaron Seltzer. Tjepkema had broken the Biola record for highest hitting percentage this game, .867 versus the previous holder with a percentage of .611.
The Eagles have an overall record of 14-12, and a PacWest record of 11-7 will go against Chaminade University on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Chase Gymnasium.
