CONCORDIA (OR) BOX SCORE | SOUTHERN OREGON BOX SCORE
FRESNO, Calif. --- Junior Meghan Warkentin (Scheenstra) recorded 36 kills as the Biola University volleyball team opened the season with three-game sweeps over Concordia University (Ore.) and Southern Oregon University at the Fresno Pacific Sunbird Classic on Friday.
The Eagles (2-0), No. 11 in the NAIA Preseason rankings, opened the day with a 30-14, 30-22, 30-23 win over Concordia (0-1), then defeated Southern Oregon (1-1) by a count of 30-28, 30-14, 30-21.
Biola came out firing in the first match of day, jumping out to a 12-3 lead in game one and not looking back. In games two and three, the Eagles led from start to finish and cruised to the easy win.
The second match of the day was set to be a thriller after Southern Oregon pulled the upset of No. 8 Azusa Pacific in five-games which included a 46-44 fourth game won by SOU. However, the Eagles out-hit Southern Oregon .385 to .144 and cruised to the easy victory in three games.
The Eagles jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead in game one, but SOU fought back and eventually tied the match at 21. However, a Warkentin kill moments later gave Biola a 24-22 lead which it would not relinquish.
Biola completely dominated the second game of the match as Southern Oregon began to show signs of wear from the five-game marathon with APU. The Eagles jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead and closed the game with an 11-4 run to go up two games to none. The final game started out close, but Biola used a 6-1 mini-run in the middle of the game to go up 18-13 an never looked back.
Christina Perkins had 48 assists and five aces for Biola while fellow setter Abbie Wright added 46 assists and 14 digs.
Newcomer Jessica Buffum finished with 24 kills in the two matches and middle blocker Kelsey Christoferson recorded 17 kills and had a .680 attack percentage on the day. She had a perfect day, not committing any errors in 25 attack attempts.
Biola closes out the tournament on Saturday (Aug. 25) with a single game against Oregon Tech at 1:00 p.m.
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