BOX SCORE

SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- Senior outside hitter Jessica Buffum recorded 15 kills and added four blocks to lead No. 2 Biola to a 20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 win over Lubbock Christian at the NAIA Championship Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

The Eagles improve to 28-3 on the season and sit at 1-0 in the pool play portion of the tournament. The top two teams from each of the six, four-team pools advance to bracket play. The Lady Chaps fall to 33-5 and 0-1 in pool play.

Biola struggle a bit offensively against the tough defense of Lubbock Christian, but managed to pull out the match thanks to some strong defense of its own. The Eagles recorded 16 blocks including 11 solo blocks to lead them to victory. Sophomore opposite hitter Tavea Hampton recorded four solo blocks and added four kills with no errors. 

Senior middle blocker Kristen Peterson got in on the action with six kills and eight blocks--three solo. Senior outside hitter Kelsey Mitchell added 10 kills for the Eagles two blocks. 

The Eagles got off to a quick start, scoring the first five points and holding an 11-6 lead near the midway point of the first set. However, Lubbock scored six straight points to take back the lead at 12-11. After trading points Biola still had a slight 18-17 lead until the Lady Chaps rattled off another long run of seven-straight points to go up 23-18 and cruise to the win.

In the second, the Eagles began to play much better, breaking a 15-15 tie with a 7-0 run of its own to go up 22-15. Biola had set point at 24-19 before a late run by the Lady Chaps made the final a more respectable 25-22. 

The third game, BIola broke a 9-9 tie with a quick four-point run and managed to exchange points through the rest of the set to take back the lead at 25-19. In the final game, the teams also went back-and-forth until late in the set when Biola broke a 22-22 tie with three-straight points to end the match. Senior outside hitter Meghan Warkentin picked up a kill followed by another from Buffum with Warkentin and Peterson combining on a block to end the match. 

Junior libero Katie Stevens recorded a match-high 22 digs to move her into first place on the all-time dig list at Biola with 1,482 in her three-year career.

Biola retuns to action on Wednesday (Dec. 3), facing Lewis-Clark State in its next pool play match. LCSC pulled an upset over No. 11 Madonna in the final pool play match of the day, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Crusaders in five.