LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola continued its solid 2010 campaign with a 7-2 victory over The Master's College on Saturday, keeping its hopes of a first-ever NAIA National Tournament berth alive.
The Eagles, ranked No. 24 in the latest NAIA National Rankings, are currently 9-12, 5-10 in GSAC play. The Mustangs drop to 2-16, 2-13 in conference play.
Saturday's match was a make-up match as the originally scheduled contest on Tuesday was rained out. The match was also moved to Biola due to scheduling conflicts with The Master's normal courts.
The Eagles jumped out to an early lead thanks to a sweep of the doubles matches.
Joelle Tanaka and
Brea Roth cruised to an easy 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2,
Christine Garner and
Kristen Williams won 8-4 while
Samantha Weng and
Danielle Calbeck held on for an 8-5 victory at No. 3.
Biola sealed the match with a pair of quick wins in the singles portion as Calbeck won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5 and
Marvelous Beckman won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6. Shortly thereafter, Tanaka was finished with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
The Mustangs two wins came at No. 2 and No. 3 with Williams rallying from one-set down to win 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 at No. 4 singles.
The Eagles wrap up the regular season next week with a tough match, traveling to face No. 5 Azusa Pacific University in a GSAC match.
Biola entered the national rankings two weeks ago at No. 22, the first time ranked in the NAIA Top 25 since 1999. The Eagles are also hoping to earn the program's first NAIA national berth. A total of 24 teams play at the national championships with 15 earning automatic berths. The remaining nine teams are selected at large. The NAIA will announce the 24-team field on Tuesday, May 11.
The 2010 NAIA Women's Tennis National Championships are May 18-24 at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.