AZUSA, Calif. --- Junior Christine Douglas tallied 32 kills on the day to lead No. 5 Biola to a pair of victories to round out its season-opening weekend at the 2011 Cougar Classic hosted by Azusa Pacific University. 

The Eagles (3-1) defeated No. 19 Oklahoma Baptist University 25-21, 25-23, 25-17, then wrapped things up with a 17-25, 28-26, 25-11, 25-21 win over Eastern Oregon University. 

Douglas got off to a slow start in the first match, but recorded eight of her match-high 15 kills in the final set including scoring the final seven points of the match for Biola on kills. She finished the weekend with 51 kills in four matches.

Senior Sarah McAtee added 21 kills and posted a .321 attack percentage in the two games including 11 kills, three blocks and two aces in the Eagles' win over Eastern Oregon.

Biola picked up its first win over a ranked opponent with its sweep over OBU in the first match of the day. Defense helped the Eagles overcome poor hitting in the first two sets as Biola recorded a total of 79 digs in the three-set win--just two off the school record.

The Eagles got off to rough start, allowing an early 5-0 run to fall behind 9-6. But they stayed close and tied the score at 12-12 just a few points later. After the set went back-and-forth over the next few minutes, Biola broke it open late. Leading 20-19, the Eagles scored five of the final seven points including a pair of kills by McAtee to wrap up the 25-21 win.

The second set was also a back-and-forth affair which featured 11 ties and four lead changes. Biola broke an 18-18 tie with a pair of blocks to take the largest lead in a while at two points. But over the next few points, the Bison fought back and tied the score again at 23-23. However, birthday-girl Rachel Buckley saved the day with a big kill and the Eagles closed it out with an attack error by OBU to hold on for the 25-23 win.

Biola had to pull away late again in the third set, leading by just one at 17-16 late in the contest. However, after Amy Weststeyn got a kill, Douglas took over the match, recording kills to account for Biola's final seven points of the set, scoring five-straight kills before being blocked to end the streak. However, she hit through the block for the side out on the next point and closed out the match with a kill.

Douglas had 15 kills while McAtee added 10 kills to pace the Eagles. Biola hit just .194 in the match after barely hitting over .100 in the first two sets. However, the Eagles committed just one hitting error--Douglas being blocked with Biola up 23-16--and posted a .400 attack percentage in the final set.

Five players recorded double-digit digs to account for the Eagles' 79 digs. Sophomore libero Emily Weingartner led the way with 13 while sophomore setter Nicolette Douglas added 11. 

After a break for lunch, the Eagles returned to the court to face off against the winless Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon University, who had already played five matches in three days. But EOU seemed to save its best for last and gave Biola all it could handle.

In the first set, Biola held a slight 10-9 lead only to see it evaporate quickly with a four-point Mountaineer run. The Eagles stayed close through much of the set until Eastern Oregon used an 8-2 run to close out the set and go up 1-0.

It looked like Biola found its stride and used a 12-3 run to break the set open and go up 21-14. However, the Mountaineers weren't ready to give and answered back with a 12-4 run of their own to fight off three set points and take a 26-25 lead. A kill by Nicolette Mather gave the ball back to the Eagles and a service ace by Nicolette Douglas gave them a fourth attempt at the set. McAtee then closed out the set with a kill to tie the match at 1-1.

Biola then came alive in the third set and dominated from start to finish, using a 10-0 run to to go up 15-5 and cruised from there to a 25-11 win.

In the fourth set, things stayed even through much of the set with the Eagles pulling away late for the victory. With the score tied at 20-20, Buckley and Mather recorded back-to-back kills to provide some separation. After a service error gave the ball back to the Mountaineers, Mather got it right back with a quick kill followed by a pair of kills from Christine Douglas to seal the victory.

The Eagles hit just .059 in the first set, but swung at over .300 in each of the final three sets to finsh with a .280 attack percentage. Christine Douglas had 17 kills and 10 digs to lead the Biola attack with McAtee adding 11 kills, three blocks and two aces. Sophomore middle blocker Chelsee Arnitz recorded 10 kills and five blocks.

Sophomore Emily Weingartner had a match-high 24 digs in the match to pace the defense.

The Eagles return to action on Friday, hosting their first-ever invitational. The 2011 Holiday Inn Summer Slam features a 10-team field including four ranked in the NAIA Top 25. Friday's action begins at 12:00 pm with Saturday's matches starting at 10:00 a.m. For more information, visit http://athletics.biola.edu/sports/2011/8/15/2011VBClassic.aspx.