BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Exactly 11 months after pulling a huge upset and handing Fresno Pacific its lone loss of the 2007 season, No. 4 Biola once again went the distance with the top-ranked Sunbirds. However, history would not repeat itself as Fresno Pacific escaped Chase Gymnasium with a 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12 GSAC victory in front of 921 fans on Tuesday night.
The Eagles fall to 15-2 on the season, having suffered their second-straight loss to a team ranked ahead of them in the NAIA polls, and fall to 5-2 in GSAC play. The Sunbirds improve to 15-0 and 7-0 in GSAC play.
Senior outside hitter Jessica Buffum had a stellar night for the Eagles, recording a match-high 17 kills and hitting .261 to pace the Biola attack. Senior outside hitter Meghan Warkentin added 15 kills and 10 digs.
Fresno Pacific was led by the 15 kills and four blocks of Thais Julio and also received 14 kills from KeKe Wang.
Biola struggled in the first set as Fresno broke a 10-10 tie with a long 12-4 run. The Eagles rallied back to close the gap to five, but the Sunbirds were too much to handle.
The Eagles jumped out to a quick 8-5 lead in the second set only to see Fresno fight back and go up 13-10. Biola rallied to tie the score at 14-14, then used a 3-0 run to take an 18-16 lead moments later. However, Fresno Pacific closed out the set with a 9-2 run to win 25-20 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Biola rallied back and won the third thanks to some strong defensive play. With the score knotted at 17-17, Biola rolled off a six-point run thanks to a pair of kills by Buffum and a combo-block by Meghan Cunningham and Kelsey Christoferson. The Sunbirds would close the gap a bit, but the Eagles would hold on for a 25-22 win, holding Fresno Pacific to a paltry .097 attack percentage.
It was more of the same for Biola in the fourth. Once again, the set was tied at 17-17 when Biola went on an impressive run, again recording six-straight points to take control of the match. This time, they would exchange points down the stretch for the 25-20 victory. Fresno hit a bit better at .158, but Biola, led by the seven kills from Buffum held on to force the fifth and final set.
The Sunbirds got off to a quick start in the fifth set thanks to four straight errors by the Eagles which gave FPU a quick 6-0 lead. Biola would respond with three points of their own and eventually cut the lead to one at 13-12. However, Julio would record her third kill of the set followed by a block from Brittany Pierce and Wang to close out the match.
Biola returns to court on Saturday (Oct. 4), traveling to The Master's for a GSAC match beginning at 7:00 p.m.
