CORNERSTONE BOX SCORE
MENLO BOX SCORE

FRESNO, Calif. --- Biola opened the Fresno Pacific Sunbird Classic with a pair of sweeps, defeating Cornerstone University (Mich.) 25-20, 25-22, 25-18 in the first match and Menlo College (Calif.) 25-8, 25-12, 25-17 on Friday afternoon at the Special Events Center in Fresno.

The Eagles, ranked No. 20 in the NAIA Preseason Poll, improve to 5-1 on the season with their fifth-straight victory. Both Cornerstone and Menlo drop to 0-2.

Sophomores Kim Russell  and Joy Talcott led the attack for Biola, collecting 18 and 17 kills, respectively. The Eagles also combined for an impressive 17 blocks in the two matches. Senior middle blocker Kelsey Christoferson had seven total blocks, four against Cornerstone and three against Menlo. Sophomore middle blocker Tavea Hampton and freshman setter Justine Schoneveld each added six blocks total.

The first match was a tight one. Biola held on to win the first game by just five points despite posting a .500 attack percentage. The Eagles never trailed but the score was tied on seven different occasions, the last one coming at 11-11. However, Talcott recorded a kill to put the Eagles up 12-11, then served three-straight points to give Biola a 15-11 advantage. Cornerstone would pull within two at 20-18, but Biola scored five of the next seven points to take the set 25-20.

In the second game, the Eagles fell behind late in the set as Cornerstone used a 9-3 run to go up 20-18. However, after a Biola timeout, Russell picked up a big kill and sophomore Amy Mosebar served up a pair of points including an ace to give the Eagles back the lead at 21-20. After a kill by Cornerstone tied the score, Biola then scored four of the next five points to hold on and win 25-22.

The third set proved to be a seesaw battle with each team going on long runs and neither hitting the ball particularly well. After jumping out to a 6-2 lead early, Biola watched Cornerstone jump right back in with a 7-1 run of its own to go up 9-7. The Eagles quickly called a timeout and came back fired up, responding with an 11-4 run to take control of the set. They would cruise to an easy 25-18 win to take the match.

Biola had 45 kills in the game and posted a .288 attack percentage. Russel led the Eagles with 12 kills and added four blocks including one solo. Talcott added 11 kills, 12 digs and two blocks for Biola with a .400 attack percentage.

The Eagles never had much trouble in the second match of the day, cruising past Menlo in under an hour. Biola hit .292 while holding Menlo to a -.146 attack percentage and recording eight blocks.

Christoferson led the Eagles with eight kills and no errors in 12 swings (.667 attack percentage) while Talcott, Russell and senior middle blocker Meghan Cunningham added six each.

Shoneveld had 72 assists in the two matches, adding 15 digs, six blocks and three aces for the Eagles.

Biola closes out the tournament on Saturday (Aug. 29) morning, taking on Southern Oregon University at 11:00 a.m. The Raiders were ranked No. 26 in the NAIA Preseason poll and are 4-1 on the season with their lone loss coming to No. 1 Fresno Pacific last week.