WHITTIER, Calif. --- Biola Swim & Dive had its first head-to-head dual meet of the 2018-19 season on Saturday as both the men and women's teams took on Whittier College at the Lillian Slade Aquatics Center.

The Eagles earned some vengeance after back-to-back losses to the Poets with two substantial victories in this meet. Biola's men's side, led by Noah Reed, earned a 165.50-83.50 win, while the women, led by Rebecca Brandt, found their way to a 187-64 win.

"We came to race today," said Head Coach Ryan Kauth. "The team was really sharp all week in workouts and showed up this morning with a great mentality. With this being our first dual meet, we told them to just go out and race. The only thing I wanted them to focus on was touching the wall first."

The Eagles found a way to touch the wall faster in 22 of the 32 total events on the morning, accomplishing coach Kauth's vision very well.

Reed and Brandt, both seniors, led the effort by each winning a trio of individual events. Reed won the men's 1,000-freestyle with a 10:30.04, the men's 500-free with a 5:06.47 and was a part of Biola's winning 200-freestyle relay team in the final event of the day. Brandt led off the day by being part of a victorious 200-medley relay team and followed it up with a win in the 100-butterfly (1:02.49) and finished off as part of the Eagles' winning 200-freestyle relay team.

"The results speak volumes about how far we've come in the last calendar year, and where we're headed as a program," said Kauth. "Our depth is already being put on display in our very first meet, and I think we're going to continue to be a very hard team to beat going forward."

Kauth pointed out a few other notable performances from the meet as being Nicole Chang's victory in the 100-backstroke (1:00.52), Annie Bristow's win in the 200-butterfly (2:16.73) and Katelyn Harper's very, very narrow second-place finish in the 400-IM (4:43.39).

For the second meet in a row the Eagles' large contingent of newcomers continued to make their presence known.

On the men's side, he noted Jonathan Villa's win in the 200-butterfly (1:59.88) and Clayton Owens' win in the 200-backstroke (2:01.97). It was a .20-second win for Villa and just about seven-second victory for Owens.

"The team knew going into this dual meet how I felt about the way we performed against Whittier last year, and they understood what the expectations were," said Kauth. "Even the freshman were informed by the upperclassmen about my reaction and feelings towards last year's meet and they rose to the occasion today."

Other multiple event winners were Jonathan Villa (3), Annie Bristow (3), Raymond Kam (2) and Kasidee Pascoe (2).

Biola's depth was evident in that the Eagles had at least two of the top-3 finishers in 20 of the individual events swam on Saturday. Biola also won every relay.

It's a quick turnaround for this Eagles' team as they've got a road trip booked for this upcoming weekend with meets on Friday and Saturday at Mills College.