WHITTIER, Calif. --- For the second straight week, having no female divers was a thorn in the side of Biola's swimming and diving team. This time, it resulted in a two-point loss in a dual meet against Whittier College.
 
Both of Biola's teams came up short against the Poets, with the women's side getting edged, 134-136, and the men's team dropping it with a score of 160-101.
 
"Despite the fact we did not come out on top, I think we had some really strong swims today," said Head Coach Eddie Shepard. "Things just did not fall in place for us and we came up short."
 
Biola's women's team won nine of the 13 events on the afternoon, but it handed all of the diving points to the Poets and it resulted in the two-point defeat. The men's side made three mistakes in the pool, earning three disqualifications. Without those DQs the team had enough strong performances that would have made for a much closer meet.
 
Edward Campana again led the way for the men's team. He won the 50- and 100-freestyle when Biola won just five of the total events.
 
Shane Brinson made an immediate impact as a diver. He made the national qualifying standard in both the one-meter and three-meter dive. He hit a 208.60 in the one-meter and worked a 221.25 in the three-meter.
 
"It was great to have our diver performing so well," said Shepard. "I was extremely excited he was able to qualify for nationals on both boards."
 
Brinson was the only one to hit a national qualifying mark on the men's side, but Abby Blake (200 IM), Samantha Dammann (200-butterfly) and Christine Tixier (200-breaststroke).
 
Dammann and Tixier both won the events they qualified for nationals in, and Tixier also got a win in the 200-Individual Medley (2:12.60).
 
The Eagles' dominant relay teams continued to win on Saturday, barely edging out a win in the 200-freestyle relay and working to a four-second win in the 200-medley relay (1:57.60).
 
In addition to being a part of the relays, Angela Kirschner and Lisa Tixier also won two individual events each.
 
"I was especially impressed with Angela Kirschner's performance in the sprint freestyle events," said Shepard. "She put up some really fast times for this part of the season and swam some really strong performances."
 
At the end of the day the loss does not hurt much about the Eagles' season, as the team still added national cuts and a bunch of confidence in some individual wins. Shepard knows there are still some kinks to be worked out and has some time to get it done in training.
 
 Biola's season continues next Saturday at the SOKA Invitational in Aliso Viejo, Calif.