BOX SCORE
COSTA MESA, Calif. --- The Biola players recorded at least 10 kills including a season-best from freshman Janae O'Connor, but it was not enough as the Eagles fell 25-22, 23-25, 27-25, 25-17 to Vanguard University in a GSAC match on Thursday night in Costa Mesa.
The Eagles, ranked No. 17 in the latest NAIA National Poll, drop to 12-7 on the season and to 3-5 in GSAC play. The Lions, who entered the NAIA Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 25, improve to 10-6 and 4-3 in conference.
O'Connor had a banner night for the Eagles, recording 10 kills and adding nine digs. Seniors
Kelsey Christoferson and
Meghan Cunningham each added 10 kills.
Vanguard was led by the 25 kills of Kelsey Wirt, who added 13 digs to pace home team. Heather DeJongh also had 15 kills for the Lions while Jamie Heenan recorded 13.
In the first set, Biola got off to a bit of a slow start, falling behind 5-1 early and really was never able to recover. Vanguard stretched its lead to 11-4 before the Eagles rallied back with a 7-2 lead to pull within two at 13-11. However, Biola was not able to get any closer than two points the rest of the way and ended up falling 25-22.
The Eagles answered back in the second set, a real see-saw battle between the two evenly-matched foes. The Eagles struck the first blow, opening up an early 9-5 lead. Trailing 19-16, the Lions mounted a rally, scoring four-straight to take their first lead of the set at 20-19. Biola answered back with a kill from Mather to knot the score at 20-20. After the teams exchanged points, the Eagles took a commanding lead with back-to-back kills by O'Connor and
Tavea Hampton to go up 24-22. After service errors by either team, Biola would tie the match up at one set each.
In the third set, the two teams again battled back and forth. The Lions jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the set, but the Eagles slowly closed the gap and eventually tied the score at 17-17 thanks to three-straight errors by Vanguard. The two teams exchanged points for the next few serves with the Lions jumping out to a 24-23 lead on a kill by Wirt. Christoferson answered back with a kill of her own to tie the set and an error by Vanguard gave the Eagles set-point. But Vanguard would end the set by scoring three-straight points with Heather DeJongh closing things out with a solo block.
Vanguard came roaring back in the final set, again jumping out to a quick lead, this time holding on for the win. The Lions opened with an 11-6 lead early on but watched the Eagles close the gap to four at 20-16. After a timeout, Vanguard rattled off four-straight points to put the set out of reach and give the Lions the victory.
The loss was just the eighth in 50 all-time matches against Vanguard and was Biola's first loss at Vanguard since the 1992 season when the Lions defeated the Eagles 2-0 in a tournament match. Biola's last loss to Vanguard came in 2005 in La Mirada.
Vanguard has been a bit of a giant killer so far this season with this victory being the second-straight home win over a nationally-ranked team. Last week, the Lions upset No. 3 Cal Baptist in five games and are now 6-3 at home.
The Eagles will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday (Oct. 6), hosting San Diego Christian College in a GSAC match beginning at 7:00 p.m.
