BOX SCORE
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Verania Willis had 18 kills and Yudelka Bonilla added 17 as No. 2 Cal Baptist swept No. 4 Biola 30-28, 30-20, 30-21 on Saturday night in a Golden State Athletic Conference match at Van Dyne Gymnasium in Riverside.
The Eagles fall to 15-3 on the season and wrap up the first half of the conference schedule with a 7-3 record. The Lancers improve to 16-2 and 9-1 in GSAC play.
Biola received 11 kills and 11 digs from junior Jessica Buffum, but the Eagles hit just .132 in the match and could do little to stop the Cal Baptist attack.
Game one was a great back-and-forth battle. The score was tied 15 different times in the game, the last of which came at 21-21. But the Lancers scored three straight to go up 24-21 and led by as many as four at 28-24 before Biola rallied again. The Eagles scored three straight points to pull to 28-27, but the Lancers would close out the game by scoring two of the final three points for the victory.
The second game got off to a bad start for Biola as the Lancer jumped out to a quick 9-1 lead. Biola was able to close to within four at 14-10, but a 10-5 run would give Cal Baptist a big lead which it would not relinquish.
In game three, the Eagles hung with the Lancers through the first half of the game, tying things up at 13-13 on a Buffum kill. With CBU up 17-16, the Lancers put the game away with a 9-1 run and cruised to the sweep.
Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Christoferson had five kills with no errors in 11 attacks and also added a block. Fellow sophomore middle blocker Kristen Peterson had three blocks and two kills on the night.
Junior setter Christina Perkins recorded 25 assists and added seven digs for the Eagles.
Overall, Cal Baptist hit .264 to Biola's .132 and posted an impressive 60 kills in the three-game match.
The match wrapped up the most difficult stretch of the season for Biola. The Eagles had played six of their last eight matches against teams ranked in the NAIA's Top 10 including facing all three teams ahead of them in the poll. Biola went 1-3 against those teams, but was 5-3 overall in the stretch.
Biola returns home to begin the second half of the conference schedule on Tuesday (Oct. 9), taking on Westmont College at Chase Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.
