BOX SCORE

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- Sophomore Kim Russell recorded 12 kills and junior Tavea Hampton added 10 to lead No. 10 Biola to a 29-27, 25-16, 25-18 GSAC win over No. 25 Westmont College on Saturday night at Murchison Gymnasium in Santa Barbara.

The Eagles improve to 20-8 on the season and to 11-6 in GSAC play. Biola has now won 20 matches for the fourth-straight season and ninth time in the last 10 years. The Warriors drop to 15-13 overall and to 6-12 in conference.

Russell's 12 kills were a match-high and she also added three blocks to pace Biola. Hampton had a strong match as well, recording 10 kills with just one error and had seven blocks--tying a season-high for a three-set match. Hampton now has 15 blocks in her last two matches.

In the first set, the Warriors came out strong, using a 12-5 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a commanding 19-13 lead. However, Biola came right back with four-striaght points to pull within two, then used a five-point run to take back the lead at 24-23. Westmont fought off set-point with a kill by Beth Widicus and held set point itself with a triple block at 25-25. The teams exchanged points with the Warriors and held another set point on another kill by Widicus. But the Eagles responded with a kill by Russell followed by a kill by Christian Woodruff and closed out the set with a block by Russell and Kelsey Christoferson.

The Eagles came out firing in the second set, jumping out to an early 9-3 lead and never looking back. Westmont managed to close the gap a bit at 14-9, but a six-point Biola run made the score 20-9 and sealed off any hope of a Warrior comeback.

Biola again opened strong in the third, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the set. Westmont responded with a 6-3 run to pull to within four at 12-8. Biola came right back with a five-point run, taking a 17-8 lead. The Warriors narrowed the gap to five at 19-14, but the Eagles held on to win 25-18.

Jenise DeBie had a team-high eight kills to lead Westmont while Katelyn Lowry, Widicus and Alison Sharp each added seven kills.

Senior libero Katie Stevens recorded 25 digs, matching a season-high for a three-set match. She now brings her career total to 1,977 digs over four years and needs just 23 to reach the 2,000-dig plateau.

Biola remains on the road to begin next week, traveling first to El Cajon to face San Diego Christian College in a GSAC match on Tuesday (Nov. 10) at 7:00 p.m.