BOX SCORE — PHOTO GALLERY
IRVINE, Calif. --- For the second time in as many seasons, Biola left Irvine with a huge victory over one of its major conference rivals, defeating No. 2 Concordia University 17-25, 25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 15-13 in a GSAC match on Saturday night at the CUI Arena.
Biola, ranked No. 10 in the latest NAIA rankings, improves to 9-3 on the season with its third-straight victory and stays perfect at 2-0 in conference play. Concordia, which was No. 2 heading into the week, suffers its first loss of the season, falling to 9-1 overall and 1-1 in conference action.
Freshman Tori Carroll had the best match of her young college career, recording 12 kills in 23 swings for a .391 attack percentage. Sophomore Nicolette Mather matched that percentage with 11 kills in 23 swings with one fewer error while fellow sophomore and former Concordia Eagle Christine Douglas had 11 kills and 10 digs on the night.
Biola got off to an awful start, hitting a paltry .059 in the first set and trailing 12-5 early and 21-12 before eventually losing 25-17.
Things stayed bad through the first half of the second set as Concordia jumped out to an early 12-4 lead. Biola still trailed 15-7 before coming alive in a big way, using a 12-2 run to take a 19-17 lead. After Concordia quickly tied the match at 19-19, the Eagles back out in front with a kill by senior setter Abbie Wright and a big kill by Douglas and would eventually hold on for a 25-22 victory.
Biola fell behind again in the third set, trailing 16-13 after an ace by Concordia's Brooke Marino. But the visitors came roaring back to take a 22-18 lead with a 9-2 run. Concordia closed the gap and eventually tied the score at 24-24, but a service error by star Amber Ridens, Biola's Rachel Buckley picked up a kill and game three by a 26-24 count.
Concordia did not go quietly, however, jumping out to an 8-3 lead early and leading through much of the final set. Biola made a final run to tie the score at 20-20, but Concordia would score the final hold on to win 25-23 and force a fifth set.
Cheered on by a crowd of over 500 screaming fans, Concordia rode the momentum wave to an early 6-3 lead in the fifth. But Biola responded in a big way, scoring five-straight points to go up 8-6 at the changeover. After a sideout, two-straight kills by Douglas put Biola on top 10-7. Concordia fought back with a 5-1 run to take back the lead at 12-11. After a timeout, Mather tied the score at 12-12 and an attack error by Ridens gave Biola back the lead. Ridens would redeem her mistake with a kill to knot the score at 13-13, but Biola received a kill by Kim Russell to earn match-point and win on an error by Ridens.
Ridens, who was an All-American last season and is Concordia's leading hitter this year, recorded a match-high 21 kills, though she had 13 errors and hit just .143 on the night. Madison Ekis and Brooke Marino each added 15 with no other Concordia player recording more than five.
Concordia's major advantage came at the net where the team recorded 16.5 blocks to Biola's five. Amy Van Buren had nine blocks with Ekis adding seven.
Russell finished with 10 kills and 10 digs for Biola with Wright contributing 23 assists, 13 digs and two kills. Russell started out the match with four errors and no kills in seven swings, but finished with 10 kills, six errors in 35 total attacks.
Biola has little time to rest, hosting No. 1 Fresno Pacific University on Tuesday (Sept. 14) at Chase Gymnasium. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the gym is expected to be packed as usual when the top-ranked Sunbirds come to town. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.
