BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. — Biola cruised to an easy victory over No. 13 Vanguard University, needing just 68 minutes to sweep the Lions 25-22, 25-21, 25-12 in the Eagles Golden State Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night in Costa Mesa.
Biola, ranked No. 4 in the latest NAIA poll released on Tuesday, continues its perfect start to the season with the victory, improving to 11-0 on the season and 1-0 in GSAC play. Vanguard suffers its first loss of the season, falling to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in conference action.
The Eagles had little trouble against the Lions on Thursday, recording 12 blocks in the match and posting a .244 attack percentage.
Senior outside hitter Kelsey Mitchell led the attack for Biola with 11 kills and just two errors in 17 attacks for an impressive .529 attack percentage in the match. Senior outside hitter Jessica Buffum added 10 kills, six digs, a solo block and a service ace. In the middle, senior Kristen Peterson recorded eight blocks and contributed five kills.
Biola got off to a quick start with win in the first set, breaking open a 14-14 tie with a 6-0 run behind the strong serving of freshman Amy Mosebar. Vanguard would cut the lead to two at 22-20 later in the set, but the Eagles would exchange points from there on and win 25-22.
The Lions led through the majority of the second set, holding an early lead of 9-4 and had a 19-17 edge late in the set. However, Biola would use an 8-2 run to take its first lead of the set and cruise to a 25-21 victory.
The third set belonged to the Eagles from start to finish. Biola jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead, stretched it out to 13-6 and wrapped up the match with a 25-12 win in the set.
The match was in stark contrast to the exciting five-set match the two teams battled through last season at Vanguard. In that contest, the Eagles easily won the first two sets before Vanguard came back and knotted the match with convincing wins in the third and fourth sets. Biola trailed 5-2 early in the fifth set, but rallied late for the 15-13 win.
Biola returns to action on Saturday (Sept. 13), hosting GSAC rival Westmont College in a conference contest at Chase Gymnasium beginning at 7:00 p.m.
