BOX SCORE

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Senior outside hitter Meghan Warkentin recorded 16 kills and added 11 digs, three blocks and four aces in the final home match of her amazing career to lead Biola to a 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11 win over arch-rival Azusa Pacific University in a GSAC match on Tuesday night.

The Eagles, who entered the match ranked No. 2 in the NAIA, improve to 26-3 on the season and 16-3 in GSAC play. They wrap up the home portion of their schedule at 10-1, the best mark since 2003. The No. 8-ranked Cougars fall to 21-10 and 11-8 in conference action.

Warkentin led a quartet of Biola hitters with double-digit kills as fellow seniors Kelsey Mitchell and Kristen Peterson had 14 each and Maggie McGill added 10.

The match was yet another exciting contest in the storied history of these two rivals and played out in front of a packed house of 1,159 fans at Chase Gymnasium.

Biola got off to a great start in the match, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead only to see Azusa Pacific come back and eventually tie the match at 9-9. The Cougars broke a 13-13 deadlock with a long 9-3 run to make it 22-16. Biola would close the gap to two at 24-22, but a Biola service error would give the first game to the Cougars.

In the second, Biola again jumped out to a big lead at 8-2 only to see APU come back and close to the gap to one at 12-11. The Eagles came right back with a short run to go back up 17-12, taking advantage of four APU errors. But the Cougars would fight back and knotted the score at 19-19. After an Azusa Pacific attack error gave the ball back to the Eagles, freshman Joy Talcott recorded an ace to put the home side up two. From there, Biola exchanged points and a kill by Peterson pulled the teams even in the match.

The Eagles led from start to finish in game three, though the score remained close throughout. Biola held a 15-14 advantage at the midway point and stretched it to 19-14 with a pair of blocks, an ace by Warkentin and a kill by Peterson. Three-straight kills by APU's Jill Baker and a Biola attack error cut the lead back to 19-18, but the Cougars gave away the next two points on errors and would get no closer the rest of the way.

The fourth set summed up the entire match as there were 10 ties and three lead changes with neither team leading by more than three points at any point. Azusa Pacific's Amy Alkazin broke a 22-22 tie late in the set and a kill by Chelsea Daley on the next play made it 24-22 Cougars. An APU attack error made it 24-23, but Marguerite Hanna slammed down a kill to give the Cougars the set and send it to a decisive fifth game.

Trailing 2-0 to start the fifth, Biola rattled off a 10-2 run thanks to tough serving by McGill and three kills from Warkentin. Azusa Pacific would close the gap to two at 12-10 on a monster kill by Baker, but McGill responded with a kill of her own followed by an APU error to give Biola match point. Baker would pick up another huge kill to fend off the point, but Kelsey Christoferson closed out the match with a kill on the next play.

Baker led all players with 18 kills, adding a team-high 19 digs and three blocks. Daley wasn't too far behind with 17 kills and three digs while Robin Beetstra added 10 kills with a .571 attack percentage.

Talcott had a team-high 19 digs for the Eagles, adding five kills, an ace and a solo block. Senior setter Christina Perkins recorded 28 assists, nine digs and a kill while fellow setter Abbie Wright had 27 assists, 13 digs and a kills.

Biola closes out the regular season on Saturday (Nov. 15), traveling to California Baptist for a GSAC match at 7:00 p.m.