LA MIRADA, Calif. --- In another epic battle between the two arch-rivals, No. 10 Azusa Pacific came back from a 2-0 deficit to escape Chase Gymnasium with a hard-fought win over No. 21 Biola Tuesday night in front of a frenzied crowd of 675.
The Cougars improved to 8-0 on the season and stay a perfect 4-0 in conference play with the 33-35, 22-30, 30-19, 30-27, 15-12 victory. The Eagles fall to 7-4 overall and 1-2 in the GSAC.
Sophomore outside hitter Meghan Scheenstra led the Eagle attack with 25 kills--her sixth 20-plus performance in the nine matches she's played this season--and added 14 digs and five blocks.
Fellow sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Mitchell contributed 14 kills and freshman middle blocker Kelsey Christoferson picked up 12 kills and had seven blocks.
The Eagles won game one with a nice comeback of their own. Trailing 29-26, junior outside hitter Caroline Rutenbar served three consecutive points--aided by kills from Scheenstra and Mitchell--to tie the match at 29. The two teams battled back-and-forth until a pair of attack errors by the Cougars gave Biola game one by a 35-33 count.
After a relatively easy win in game two, Biola seemed to let down its guard a bit and allowed the Cougars back into the match after a 30-19 game three victory.
In game four, the Eagles trailed by scores of 6-0, 10-3, 14-7 and 17-11 before mounting another big comeback and nearly sealing the upset. Down 17-12, Scheenstra started Biola down the comeback trail with three straight monster kills. A few sideouts later, Rutenbar again served the Eagles back into the game with a service ace to tie the score at 24.
The two teams traded points until Azusa's Jill Baker picked up two of her team-high 21 kills to break a 27-27 tie and give Azusa the game.
The deciding game started off well for Biola, which jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead. However, the Cougars slowly chipped away until they knotted the score at nine. After that, the wheels sort of fell off for the Eagles, who committed three straight errors and trailed 14-10.
With the Azusa crowd standing and willing its team to get the final point in the match, freshman setter Abbie Wright extended things with a spectacular play. Two other Eagles made match-saving passes off another monster swing by Baker before Wright made a diving attempt on the third touch, sending it over the net and just out of the reach of a cougar player. The amazing play nearly lifted the roof of the gymnasium and gave the Eagles a slight hope.
However, it was not to be on this night as the subsequent serve sailed into the net to give the match to Azusa.
The near capacity volleyball crowd--nearly as exhausted as the two teams on the court--applauded both teams as they shook hands following what is sure to be a long-talked about classic in the storied history of this rivalry.
The road doesn't get any easy for Biola, which travels to face off with No. 3 Cal Baptist on Saturday (Sept. 16) in Riverside. Azusa travels to Nebraska this weekend to take part in the Bronco Invitational hosted by Hastings College.
