LA MIRADA, Calif. --- A long, hard-fought match between two GSAC foes came down to a final set after a marathon five-hour match, the final score did not end up going the way of Biola as the Eagles fell 5-4 to Hope International on Tuesday night.
The Eagles drop to 1-7 on the season and to 1-4 in conference action while Hope moves to 1-8 and to 1-3 in GSAC.
The teams opened with doubles play and the two teams split the first two matches off. Hope took the No. 1 doubles match 8-3 and Kathryn Ashford and Susan Carmichael scored an 8-3 win over the Royals at No. 2 doubles.
The No. 3 doubles match was not going in Biola's favor as Lauren Vogel and Patricia Ling trailed 6-3. However, they rallied to make it close late, but fell 9-7.
Due to the length of the men's matches, only three courts were available when singles started so No. 1-3 got underway. Hope scored a quick win at No. 2 singles, but Biola answered with a three-set win by Olivia Koelsch at No. 3 singles. Koelsch easily won the first set 6-0, but lost the sec on 6-0. However, she rallied and took the third set 6-4.
With the overall match score at 3-2, Carmichael tied up the score with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles. Shortly thereafter, Ashford gave Biola a 4-3 lead with a three-set win at No. 1 singles. Ashford took the first set 7-5, but dropped the second 6-1. She also rallied in the third and cruised to a 6-2 win.
The match came down to No. 5 and No. 6 singles, both of which went three sets. No. 6 came off first and went the way of the Royals.
The No. 5 singles match between Biola's Lauren Vogel and Becca Roeser was an epic finish with two sets going to tiebreakers. In the first set, Roeser held on for the 7-6 win and led 5-2 in the second set. However Vogel came roaring back and tied the set, then won the tiebreaker 10-6. However, Roeser was able to pull out a 6-4 win to take the match and give Hope a 5-4 win.
When all was said and done, the match wrapped up after five hours, finishing just before 9:30 p.m.
Biola returns to the courts on Saturday, making up a rained out match against Whittier College at 9:30 a.m. at the Biola Tennis Center.
