Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Volleyball extended its home winning streak to 22-straight matches with its 3-0 (25-17, 25-8, 25-12) victory over Providence Christian in Saturday morning's season-opener.
The Eagles played seven new players and had just one returning starter on the floor as the season began against a new opponent in the Sea Beggars. The match finished in just over an hour as Biola settled into good form after a back-and-forth first set.
Head Coach
Aaron Seltzer's team hit just .049 in the first set, which allowed the visiting team to work its way to the closest set of the morning at 25-17.
"It was the first match of the season," said Seltzer. "We needed to settle down early on, because it was everyone's first day and everyone is nervous. Today we really only had one starter on the floor from last year, so it was good to work through some things."
Hannah van Warmerdam was the first newbie to make a very noticeable impact as she finished the first set with five kills on .333 hitting. She helped keep the Eagles from hitting in the negative by recording kills on four consecutive scoring rallies in the middle of the set.
After working out some setting snags and shaking some rust off the Eagles' offense clicked on all cylinders in sets two and three. Biola hit .474 in the second set and .391 in set three. After committing 10 attack errors in set one Biola only committed three more for the rest of the match.
Brooke Watts played a critical role in the Eagles attack as she led the team in kills (8)and finished her first collegiate match with a .333 hitting percentage. She was one of four Biola players to finish the match with at least four kills. The others were van Warmerdam (7),
Olivia Sorensen (6) and
Sierra Bauder (4).
Sorensen and Tess van Grouw were a steadying force for Biola as the team captains and two most featured returning players. Van Grouw played the whole match as the libero, posted seven digs and passed the ball well throughout.
"Tess played well. She's our returning girl, so that is exactly what we expect out of her," said Seltzer.
Joining Van Grouw in a solid back row effort was
Anna Houser. Houser led the team in digs (12) in her first career match and also added a team-high five service aces. Biola's serve was in good form this morning. The Eagles posted 15 service aces and committed only seven service errors.
Brinley Beresford and
Tori Moons split time setting the Biola attackers. Beresford ended with 20 assists and Moons with eight. Beresford also made an impact as a server with four aces.
All in all, the match provided a good opportunity to shake off some of the dust and get used to playing as a team. Seltzer used 12 players in the match and saw good what he needed to prep the team well for next week's Red Lion-Anaheim Summer Slam tournament.
"Everyone was much less nervous at the end than they were at the beginning," said Seltzer.
The Eagles open their tournament at noon on Thursday against Rocky Mountain (Mont.).
