LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Just two weeks (and four APU sweeps) after a bitter five-set battle in Azusa, Biola Volleyball hosted the No. 24 Cougars in La Mirada for part two of their Cornerstone Cup competition and came away with a thrilling three-set win.
 
Azusa Pacific had been alone in first place in the PacWest Conference with a sterling 7-0 conference mark, but eager to get back at the Cougars Biola came out on fire from the start and rolled to a very dominant win (25-20, 25-23, 25-20) in front of a fanatical home crowd.
 
"Preparation made all the difference tonight," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "We looked at what we did wrong when we were at Azusa, which was not too much, and we spent time looking at that stuff and finding out where we could get better. The team did a great job."
 
The second set was absolutely the most pivotal time in this match. The Eagles began the frame just as steady as they had been in game one, but then APU swung the pendulum in the other with points in six of eight rallies late in the set to claim a strong 21-18 lead.  Biola managed the next four points in a row, including a Sierra Bauder kill and block and two APU miscues, and took a 22-21 lead. Azusa never led the set again, and the Eagles got kills from Bekah Roth and Karly Dantuma to seal the deal at 25-23.
 
Without that second set win, we could have a completely different final box score on our hands. The determination of the Eagles' defense, both the back row and blockers is what keyed the turnaround in set two.
 
"Defensively, we did what we do very well. We defended around the block," said Seltzer. "Tonight we had hands in the right place, we blocked well and we served well."
 
After that Biola came out with some swagger in the third set and built an 11-8 lead early on that allowed some breathing room to let the team play free and easy. The two teams played side out volleyball from the 16-13 point until the end of the match. The Eagles won two points in a row once during that stretch, but outside of that it was back-and-forth until an APU service error sealed the Biola win. APU had just two service aces, but piled on four errors on the evening.
 
The Eagles outhit APU .226 to .173 and perhaps most importantly out blocked the Cougars 8-5. APU sealed their win in Azusa with seven blocks in the fifth set alone.
 
Tess Van Grouw and Sami Hover led the charge in the back row with 12 digs and 11 digs, respectively. But, Sabrina Winslow made her presence known back there as well. She subbed into the back because of some injuries on the team and handled herself well despite being served at more times than not. She ended the night with eight digs and was second on the team with eight kills.
 
Brooke Watts again led the team in kills. She posted 11 and hit the ball at a fantastic .350 clip. Brinley Beresford was another Eagle with a great hitting percentage. The junior setter had five kills and was extremely efficient hitting .400 on 10 swings.
 
The Eagles' middle blockers were also critical to the effort in the win. Bauder and Roth combined for 13 kills and both hit over .286. More importantly they were combining with the Eagles' outsides all night on blocks. Each middle had a hand in four blocks.
 
"It was a good team win tonight, everybody was plugged in," said Seltzer.
 
Biola pulls to an even .500 (3-3) in PacWest Conference play and is now 9-5 overall. Azusa Pacific drops to 14-2 (7-1 PacWest). The two teams split the 10 available Cornerstone Cup points for volleyball. Biola currently leads the cup, 20-10.

It's a quick turnaround for BU as they host Chaminade (9-6, 4-3 PacWest) on Monday night. The Silverswords are coming off a three-set loss to Concordia-Irvine tonight.