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Box Score 2 ASHLAND, Ore. --- Biola closed out its season-opening trip to Oregon with a pair of dominating wins on Saturday, beating UC Merced in four games before sweeping Oregon Tech in its final games at the Southern Oregon University Paul Elliott Invitational.
The Eagles, ranked No. 5 in the NAIA Preseason Coaches Poll, improve to 3-1 on the season. Biola opened the day with a 25-13, 25-10, 23-25, 25-8 win over UC Merced, then defeated Oregon Tech 25-8, 25-12, 25-19.
Senior outside hitter Christine Douglas led the way with 32 kills while sophomore middle blocker Amy Weststeyn added 17.
In the first match, Biola came out swinging and quickly buried the Bobcats (0-4) in the first two sets, jumping out to a 8-1 lead in the first and a 9-1 lead in the second.
The Eagles switched things up in the third set and UC Merced took advantage, taking an early 6-2 lead. Biola fought back and eventually tied the score at nine and took a 13-10 lead a bit later to complete a 10-3 run. But the Bobcats responded with a 7-1 run to take back the lead and didn't relinquish it. The Eagles would pull tow within one late in the match at 24-23 thanks to back-to-back kills by Douglas, but an attack error gave the Bobcats the set.
Biola put that game behind and returned to form in the fourth set, jumping gout to a quick 11-1 lead and closing it out with a 8-1 run to cruise to a 25-8 lead. The Eagles recorded 13 kills with two errors in 18 swings for a .611 attack percentage meaning UC Merced was able to dig just three of Biola's 18 attacks in the set.
Junior Chelsee Arnitz had a solid match, recording three kills but adding a team-high six blocks. Junior setter Gracee Gallarda had 39 assists and five aces with junior Emily Weingartner and sophomore Tara Rallis each adding 10 digs.
The Eagles controlled the match against Oregon Tech from start to finish, continuing the dominating play from the fourth set against UC Merced. Biola opened the match on an 12-4 run,and rattled off 10-straight points a bit later to take a 22-6 lead. To that point in the set, the Eagles had 10 kills in 12 swings and finished off the game a few points later to win 25-8.
They kept the pressure on in the second, scoring eight of the first nine points in the set and eventually held an 18-5 before finishing things off with a 25-12 win to go up 2-0.
Biola mixed things up a bit and got all of its available players in the match in the third. The Eagles had a tougher time pulling away, but closed out the set on a 7-3 run to win 25-19.
Douglas again led the way with 14 kills and added a block while Weststeyn contributed eight kills in 11 swings. Freshmen Britta Blaser and Crissy Cunningham each added four kills for the Eagles.
"Today's matches gave us a chance to get a lot of our players in and most of the girls a chance to see their first collegiate action," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "I think just about everyone in the front row got a kill. It was nice for them to get a chance to get the jitters and nerves out and contribute to the win."
Biola returns home for a tough test, hosting the 2012 Biola University/Red Lion Hotel-Anaheim Summer Slam on Thursday and Friday. The 13-team tournament features nine teams which played in the NAIA National Tournament last year. Biola takes on three of those teams including No. 7 Rocky Mountain College (Thursday at 2:30 pm) and No. 8 Lewis-Clark State (Friday at 4:30 pm).
