LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola had its hands full with NCAA Division III No. 3 Middlebury College (Vt.) on Saturday, dropping its first match in over a week with the 2-7 final tally.
 
The match was a lot closer than the final represents, because the Eagles lost all three doubles matches, but were within three of the Panthers in each of them, including a No. 2 doubles matchup that was 7-9.

"Today was an overall well-fought match," said Head Coach Brent Worthington. "It was competitive across the board in singles and doubles. All the doubles played well, losing by just one break."

Philip Westwood and Luke Mountain pushed their opponents to the brink in the longest doubles match of the evening. Biola lost 6-8 at No. 3 and 5-8 at No. 1. If at least two of the three would have gone the Eagles' way it would have been just a one-win different between the two sides.
 
Singles play was straightforward, with five of the six matches lasting just two sets. David Garcia won the first set at No. 6 and then lost the second set and super breaker to lose in the only singles competition exceeding the two set mark.
 
Biola's two winners earned decisive victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Westwood beat Timo van der Geest at No. 2 (6-2; 6-0) to earn his seventh victory in a row. He's now 10-5 overall, which puts him at the highest single-season winning percentage in program history. He becomes one of just eight Eagles with at least 10 career singles victories.
 
Brandon Chang accounted for the Eagles' other singles win, beating Peter Heidrich 6-4; 6-2 to win his third straight. He earned his 21^st career singles win, which puts him just six behind David Mossman for the Eagles' all-time lead.
 
Biola falls to 7-8 after the loss and Middlebury improves to 4-0. The Eagles have just one day to rest after playing their third straight match. They host Willamette at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, beginning another stretch of back-to-back-to-back matches.