Box Score
HIGHLIGHTS
SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- One of the most difficult aspects of a tournament that sandwiches as many games in consecutive days as the NAIA National Volleyball tournament does is adequately preparing for your next opponent.
After nine consecutive seasons of appearances at this tournament's final site that preparation has become second nature for Head Coach
Aaron Seltzer and his staff. They spent a handful of hours over the past night and morning carefully crafting the perfect gameplan that the team executed expertly in a 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-15) victory over No. 17 Evangel on Wednesday afternoon.
"I think our coaches do such a good job watching film," said senior outside hitter
Joclyn Kirton. "Honestly, they did such a good job of knowing exactly what we needed to do to get this win, and we did it."
The Eagles did not just "do it," rather they did it exceptionally well in a match that was like an appetizer platter featuring all the best college volleyball has to offer. Biola attacked with great success, passed well, defended well and was great when it was serving against a very talented Crusaders team that was just one day removed from a massive victory over No. 8 Park.
Kirton was one of the best at executing the coaches' gameplan and had a whale of a game in the no-doubt-about-it victory. The senior led everybody with 15 kills and hit .520. She's currently among the top-5 hitters at the tournament with a .460 average through the first two pool play matches.
The Eagles' defense held the Crusaders to .000 hitting for the match and limited Evangel to just 17 total kills in the three-set matches. Biola more than doubled that kill output with 44 of its own.
Alex Brehaut championed that defensive effort with 23 digs, and she and her fellow back row players did not allow a single serving ace to this Evangel team that had four service aces, 52 kills and a near-.300 hitting percentage against Park yesterday.
"The girls executed our gameplan flawlessly today," said Head Coach
Aaron Seltzer. "We knew if they could do the things we planned that we would do pretty well, and they did good. Alex was a stud. She had to grab short balls and deep balls and she effectively did both. Crissy (Cunningham) is also playing better and better every single time out."
Biola had four service aces, but even more importantly it served to the right players 99 percent of the time and was effective at getting this Evangel team out of system and at a disadvantage.
"We served well," said Seltzer. "It was never moved to the same spot twice. It was always moving around and I think they had no idea where it was going next, so serving was on point."
The Eagles' senior class again shined bright on Wednesday as
Alyssa Mason and
Britta Blaser joined Kirton to be the team's three most effective attackers on the day. Mason ended with 10 kills and a .368 clip while Blaser added eight of her own.
Christina DenBoer helped the team down the stretch by getting three of her four kills in a tremendous third set.
"The team did so well today," said Kirton. "We did what the coaches told us to do, and we were able to pick up on their tendencies on the other side of the court to execute and do a really good job."
After the second match on Wednesday Biola stands alone at the top of Pool E with its two victories. The Eagles are 2-0 with one game to play, while Madonna and Evangel are both 1-1 and Park is 0-2. Pool play concludes on Thursday with Biola vs. Park at 1:15 p.m. PT.
For more information on the tournament visit
http://athletics.biola.edu/sports/2015/11/28/WVB_1128152709.aspx?path=vball.