BOX SCORE

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola University secured at least an at-large berth to the NAIA National Championships with a 30-25, 30-26, 32-30 sweep over arch-rival Azusa Pacific University in the opening round of the NAIA Region II Playoffs on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles, ranked No. 4 in the latest NAIA National Poll, improve to 28-6 on the season and advance to the regional semifinals where they will play No. 1 Fresno Pacific University on Friday (Nov. 16). The Cougars end their season with a 21-10 record.

Junior outside hitter Meghan Warkentin continued to shine for Biola, recording a team-high 21 kills and adding a pair of blocks. Junior middle blocker Kristen Peterson and junior outside hitter Jessica Buffum each added nine kills.

The Cougars were led by the match-high 23 kills from sophomore Jill Baker, who broke the APU record for kills in a season with her performance on the night.

Game one opened with both teams going back-and-forth with short runs. Biola broke a 16-16 tie with a 6-1 run midway through the game only to see APU pull within one point with a run of their own. However, Biola pulled away late with four straight points thanks to back-to-back kills and a block by Warkentin and never looked back.

Azusa Pacific came out firing in game two, taking the early 10-6 lead and not allowing the Eagles to get closer than a point through the majority of the game. After the Cougars went up 24-20 on a kill by Baker, Biola rallied back, scoring six straight points to go up 26-24. APU tied the score at 26-26 with a pair of quick points, but the Eagles scored the final four points of the game capped by back-to-back kills by Peterson for the 30-26 win.

In game three, the Cougars again claimed the early advantage, opening the game on a 6-3 run. Biola trailed through most of the game again, until an 8-3 Eagle run tied the game at 24-24. After the teams exchanged points, APU had a crack at game point after a Baker kill put them up 29-28. But a kill by Peterson thwarted the game point chance and again tied the score at 29-29. However, on the play, Azusa Pacific's Laura Stiles was injured diving for the ball and play was halted for nearly 25 minutes while she was looked at and eventually taken off the court to a waiting ambulance.

When play resumed, junior outside hitter Maggie McGill recorded the kill to put the Eagles up 30-29. After a kill by APU's Brianne Huff tied the score at 30, Peterson came up big again with another kill, then teamed with McGill for a block on the next play to end the match.

McGill finished with seven kills on the night and added three digs. Sophomore libero Katie Stevens  also had a strong night for Biola, recording a match-high 20 digs.

Biola's victory was the first playoff win over the Cougars in the last four postseason meetings and the third win over APU on the season. The Eagles had swept the Cougars one week ago at Azusa and won in four games on Oct. 2 at Biola. It was also a measure of revenge for the Eagles as Azusa Pacific ended Biola's season last year with a four-game win in the first round of the NAIA Region II playoffs.

The Eagles advance to the NAIA Region II semifinals in Fresno and are now assured a spot in the NAIA National Championships in Columbia, Missouri, Nov. 28-Dec. 1. It will be the first trip to the national tournament for the Eagles since the 2003 season, when they reached the national semifinals.

In the other first round games, No. 1-seed Fresno Pacific downed No. 8 Holy Names 30-11, 30-9, 30-11, No. 2 Cal Baptist dispatched No. 7 Vanguard 30-17, 30-24, 30-15, and No. 3 Concordia beat No. 6 Point Loma Nazarene 31-29, 30-20, 31-29.