BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Sophomore Meghan Scheenstra recorded 25 kills and freshman Meghan Cunningham added 14 as No. 16 Biola upset No. 11 Pt. Loma Nazarene 30-22, 25-30, 30-20, 27-30, 15-13 on Saturday night in La Mirada.
It was the seventh straight victory for the Eagles (19-10, 11-7 GSAC) and moves them into a three-way tie for fourth place in GSAC play. Biola is now even with Pt. Loma and Azusa at 11-7 in the conference.
The young Biola squad struggled with consistency throughout most of the match, playing strong one game, then struggling the next. In the end, however, the team stepped up for its first five-game victory in six such matches this season.
The Eagles dominated play for the most part in game one, jumping out to a 13-6 lead, then cruising to victory. Biola had 19 kills in the first game alone and had a .310 attack percentage to Pt. Loma's .182.
In game two, however, Biola struggled early as the Sea Lions went on a 9-1 run aided by five Eagle errors to take a 19-9 lead. Biola closed the game to 22-20 on a strong run of its own, but a late charge by Pt. Loma gave them the game.
Biola got back on track in game three, jumping out to a 12-6 lead early. Pt. Loma clawed its way back in to the match to pull within two at 15-13, but the Eagles went on an 11-1 run and won going away.
Game four was a back-and-forth affair which featured nine ties and numerous lead changes. But with the score tied at 22, sloppy play again caused Biola problems as Pt. Loma pulled away and won 30-27.
The final game started off with the two teams trading points until the Sea Lions strung a few points together to take a 9-5 lead. But Biola fought its way back and tied the match at 11-11 and even took a 12-11 lead on a kill by Cunningham.
After the Sea Lions recorded a pair of points to go up 13-12, Scheenstra tied up the game with a monster kill. That was followed by a great block by Cunningham and sophomore Kelsey Mitchell to give Biola match point. Scheenstra then finished off the match with a service ace.
Pt. Loma's Kate Alderson led all players with 26 kills and added 11 digs.
Freshman setter Abbie Wright struggled at times for Biola, but finished with 55 assists, eight kills, 17 digs and three aces. Overall, she came up big in the fifth game with eight assists.
Scheenstra led Biola with 25 kills and added 18 digs, two aces and a block.
Mitchell also had 13 kills and eight digs for the Eagles.
Biola returns to action on Tuesday seeking its 20th victory of the season as the team travels to Fullerton to take on Hope International on Tuesday (Nov. 7) at 7:00 p.m.
