Box Score COSTA MESA, Calif. --- Biola Volleyball's 10 months without a loss came to an end on Tuesday night as No. 9 Vanguard upset the No. 1 Eagles in four sets (25-21, 20-25, 28-26, 25-17) in front of a loud and proud home crowd.
 
Different areas of the game plagued Biola throughout the night as, outside of a strong second set, the Eagles never quite looked like themselves throughout the match. This was epitomized by the Eagles' 10 service errors and 30 total attack errors that served up 40 free points to the Lions.
 
Biola struggled to get its bearings in a first set that it never led. Vanguard worked a 6-1 advantage in front of its raucous home crowd and never looked back in that set.
 
The Eagles were able to keep within four points for a majority of the set and even tightened it to as close at two points at 18-20, but ultimately fell just shy because of some miscues in serve-receive and two of its 10 service errors.
 
Alyssa Mason was the best player on the court through that difficult first set as she had four kills on five swings to hit .600 playing as middle blocker. The only problem is that after the first set the Eagles could not set her with consistency and she ended with just nine kills.
 
The Lions were led by Charlotte Heerlyn's seven kills and four kills and a solo block from Rachel Barker. Heerlyn stayed on point all night long as she led a powerful two-pronged attack with Rachael Barker that combined for 31 of Vanguard's 55 kills.
 
The second set followed a much different script as after some initial back-and-forth the Eagles rode a stretch of five points out of six to extend to an 11-7 lead. After breaking the 6-6 tie the Eagles led for the remainder of the set thanks to consistent play from the back row.
 
Two of Biola's seniors, Joclyn Kirton and Britta Blaser, were the driving forces behind the enhanced attack in the second set. The pair combined for nine kills and hit around .400 as Biola upped its hitting percentage from .219 in the first set to .314 in set two.
 
Biola added two more service aces in the second set, but it suffered a few miscues at the serve too, which helped Vanguard hang in the set despite posting drastically lower attack efficiency numbers.
 
The third set was insane and is basically what decided the match. The two teams kept within two points of one another on every play from Vanguard's 5-3 lead on. Biola had one set point come at 24-23, but a kill by Heerlyn kept Vanguard alive.
 
The Lions went on to need three of their own set points but ultimately clinched the third set win to pull ahead 2-1 in the match after a block on an attempt from Kirton gave them the two-point advantage in extra points.
 
Biola struggled to serve the ball well again in the third set as it saw its total number of service errors grow from five to eight, which made a huge difference in the tight third game.
 
Winning that third set gave the Lions the emotional edge that they needed to easily work its way to the win in a fourth set that was hardly ever in doubt. The biggest stretch in that set came when the Lions won 12 of the final 16 points, including each of the final six, to turn a 13-13 deadlock into a 25-17 win.
 
Biola continually, and uncharacteristically, hit balls either into the net or long in that fourth set as they committed a season-high 11 attack errors in the game to hit -.111.
 
The game was not without positivity as we got a chance to see Becca Branch on the court for the first time this year in minimal action during the fourth set. The Eagles' freshman setter got four assists and six digs as she did what she could to keep Biola alive.
 
At the end of the day it's a tough loss to a very good opponent that sees Biola fall to 15-1 (7-1 GSAC) while the Lions improve to 14-4 (7-0 GSAC).
 
Biola's chance for redemption comes in just two days when it takes on Arizona Christian 2-13 (0-8 GSAC) in the desert on Thursday.