LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Despite overcoming an two-set deficit and forcing a fifth set, No. 10 Biola was unable to complete the upset attempt, falling 25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 15-13 to No. 3 Concordia University (Calif.) in a GSAC match at Chase Gymnasium on Saturday night.
The loss snaps Biola's three-match winning streak as the team falls to 15-5 on the season and to 3-1 in GSAC play. Concordia remains undefeated and atop the GSAC standings at 4-0 and improves to 15-1 overall.
Senior outside hitter Sarah McAtee led three Biola players in double-figures with 12 while junior Christine Douglas added 11. Junior Nicolette Mather recovered from a tough start to the match and finished with 10 kills.
Neither team posted particularly great offensive numbers as Concordia hit just .132 in the match to Biola's .108. However, Biola was able to stay in the contest thanks to a season-high 17 blocks--just three off its school record.
Concordia came out firing and dominated the first set of the contest. Holding an 11-10 lead near the mid-point of the set, Concordia caught fire, closing out the set with a long 14-4 run in which Biola was unable to string together points.
Things didn't get much better for the home side in the second set. Despite jumping out to a 10-7 lead, Biola allowed Concordia to get back into it and take the lead with an 11-3 run to go up 18-13. Biola could get no closer than four the rest of the way as Concordia went up 2-0 with the 25-21 win.
In the third set, Biola took control early, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. But Concordia slowly chipped away and eventually tied the score at 18-18 after a pair of questionable calls went against the home team. However, after a Biola timeout, Rachel Buckley helped the team pull away with a pair of kills and a block assist. Concordia would again tie the score at 21-21 but a service error followed by a kill and then a block by McAtee allowed Biola to go back up and eventually take the set at 25-21.
Concordia was able to go on top early in the fourth set, by taking a 9-4 lead. However, the lead was short-lived as Biola rallied with a 10-2 run to go on top 14-11. Concordia was not ready to go away and benefitted from three Biola errors to tie the score at 18-18. After a timeout, Biola caught a break as the Concordia serve went long which began a 7-2 run to take the set 25-20 and force a fifth game.
Biola started strong in the fifth with three-straight points--two of which came off Concordia errors. But the visitors tightened things up and used a 6-2 run to take back the lead at 6-5. The teams battled back and forth over the next few points until it appeared as though Emily Weingartner appeared to put Biola up 11-9 with an ace. However, it was called long to the home crowd's dismay and instead tied the score at 10-10.
A bit later, with the set knotted at 11-11, a Biola set error and attack error would give command of the set to Concordia at 13-11. The teams would exchange points the rest of the way and Concordia sealed the deal with a kill by Brooke Marino to win.
Marino had 12 kills and was one of three Concordia players to also record double-digit kills. Fei Gao led the way with 15 kills and 12 digs while Reanna Schelhass added 11 kills.
Biola's 17 kills came from six different players with Buckley recording eight including two solo. Amy Weststeyn had seven and also contributed nine kills while McAtee had six including two solo.
Biola returns to action on Tuesday with another NAIA Top 10 matchup. The Eagles travel to face No. 5 Azusa Pacific University at 7:00 p.m. The arch-rival Cougars also survived a big match on Saturday, winning in five against No. 7 Point Loma Nazarene University.
