GREAT FALLS BOX SCORE | WESTMINSTER BOX SCORE
IRVINE, Calif. --- Biola University pulled out impressive wins over a pair of tough teams in the final day of the Concordia University Labor Day Classic Saturday afternoon in Irvine.
The Eagles, who are ranked No. 11 in the NAIA preseason poll, improve to 7-0 on the season. They downed No. 23 University of Great Falls (Mont.) 30-24, 30-23, 25-11 in the first match of the day, then wrapped things up with a 34-32, 30-24, 30-12 win over No. 25 Westminster College (Utah).
Don't let Westminster's ranking fool you. The Griffins were 5-0 coming into play today with wins over teams ranked No. 1, No. 6, No. 16 and No. 19 in the NAIA preseason poll, and earlier in the day, lost a tough four-game match to No. 2-ranked Fresno Pacific.
The Eagles got off to a rocky start as Westminster jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in game one. But they slowly chipped away at the Griffins' lead and tied the score at 28-28 on a service ace by libero Katie Stevens. Westminster took the lead back and was serving for the game when outside hitter Kelsey Mitchell saved the day with a big kill to knot things up again at 29.
Biola then went up one thanks to a monster block by middle blockers Meghan Cunningham and Kelsey Christoferson. The teams again traded points until–with the score tied at 32–outside hitter Brittany Wing had a pair of kills to end the game.
The Eagles never used the momentum of the first game win to jump out to a quick 12-3 lead in game two and held off a late rally by Westminster to win the game and go up two in the match.
Biola then closed out the match with another amazing single-game performance. Outside hitter Meghan Warkentin (Scheenstra) served 12 straight points as the Eagles jumped out to a 20-4 lead. They hit .333 in the game while holding Westminster to a -.029 attack percentage.
Biola finished with a .248 attack percentage in the match while holding Westminster to just .112. Stevens had an outstanding match for the Eagles, recording 24 digs and virtually taking the Griffins' leading hitter Alison Culp out of the match. Culp finished with seven kills and nine errors in 40 attacks (-.050 attack percentage).
Warkentin led the Eagles with 18 kills while Christoferson added eight kills and just one error in 13 total attack. Mitchell continued to serve strong, recording four aces including three straight near the end of the match.
In the first match, the Eagles were able to fight through mediocre offensive play thanks to some great defense. Great Falls jumped out quickly in the first game, taking an 8-3 lead. Trailing 16-11, the Eagles mounted a rally thanks to a 13-2 run and held on for the win.
Biola trailed early in the second game as well, but used another mid-game run to break things open. The tag-team tandem of juniors Warkentin and Jessica Buffum combined for 13 kills in the second game alone to pace the Biola attack.
Game three started out with sophomore setter Abbie Wright serving six straight points and never got any closer. The Eagles made just three errors in the game and had a .440 attack percentage in the third game to close out the sweep.
The match ended on a scary note as Argos' outside hitter Brittany Prater, who had a team-high 10 kills in the match, was injured by a teammate as the two were going for a ball. Prater had to be taken out of the gym in an ambulance with a back injury and the two teams agree to end the match with Biola leading 25-11 in the final game.
Buffum and Warkentin finished the match with 27 of the team's 49 kills with Warkentin recording 16 and Buffum having 11.
Overall, Warkentin finished the day with 34 kills, 25 digs and four aces. Buffum added 19 kills, 23 digs, two blocks and an ace.
Christoferson had a monster day in the front row, recording 13 blocks including three solo, and added 13 kills with a .357 hitting percentage.
Biola's next match is on Thursday (Sept. 6) as the Eagles open play in the Golden State Athletic Conference at home against Vanguard University. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.
