LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The red carpet was rolled out for Biola Volleyball to make its triumphant return into the win column on Wednesday night at home. The Eagles stomped out visiting Hawaii Pacific to win convincingly in three games (25-17; 25-19; 25-21).
It was a wonderful way to answer back from the gut-wrenching loss to Hawaii Hilo earlier this week. Biola was especially good late in sets on Wednesday, ending game two on an 11-2 run and scoring the final eight points in a row to come from behind in set three.
Biola's blocking was once again at the center of it all as the Eagles managed 10 blocks on the night to go +8 in that category and make life difficult for HPU's talented duo of Perla Escobar and Cameryn Collie.
Abigail Copeland had her best blocking night since Biola returned from its NorCal road trip. She was in on an amazing nine of Biola's 10 blocks.
Her effort, combined with Sami Hover and Becca Branch's combined total of 28 digs, made it tough for the visiting Sharks to come up with any kind of offensive momentum throughout the night. The longest single stretch of HPU points was a four-point run early in set two.
Outside of that, Biola managed to side out above 60 percent in each set, including an incredible 70 percent number in the opening game.
While Copeland and the blockers carried the Eagles' defense it was Raegan Tjepkema doing it all on offense for BU. The freshman from Ladera Ranch had a career night when it came to attacking. She tied with Bekah Roth for the team-lead in kills with 13.
"The team did great tonight! Our passing was on fire and the setters were working their butts off," said Tjepkema.
The most impressive part is that those 13 Tjepkema kills came error-free and on just 15 swings, giving her an .867 attack percentage for the match. That effort ties Sierra Bauder's identical performance (13-0-15), which set the Biola single-match hitting percentage record in a match vs. Point Loma last season.
As a team, Hawaii Pacific hit just .098 for the match, while Tjepkema's effort paced Biola to a .385 mark. The .385 number is the best in a single match for Biola this season.
Roth's 13 came on a .440 clip and Sabrina Winslow also could do no wrong, compiling 10 ills on a .364 effort. That trio and Becca Branch (7) accounted for all but two of Biola's kills on the evening. Branch was on top of things once again with 10 digs to go with her seven kills.
It was an incredible effort from this Eagles' side to come from behind late in both of the final two sets. Biola was down 18-16 in set two before it rattled off six-consecutive points, including a pair of back-to-back service aces from Tjepkema.
The good run ended with a service error, but then a kill from Abby Brewster picked up a quick side out and sent Biola on its way again to the 25-19 win.
The third set was even closer to slipping away, seeing Biola trail 21-17 and be out of timeouts. This time the Eagles managed their long run with Kaitlin O'Brien at the stripe. It was kill-block-block-block-kill-HPU error-HPU error-block to end the match in favor of the Eagles.
Biola clinched each set on its first set point opportunity in this match and ended on runs of at least four points in each set.
The win pushes the Eagles to 14-12 overall and 11-7 in PacWest Conference play. Biola hosts Chaminade (19-7, 13-5 PacWest) at 11 a.m. this Saturday morning, helping the Silverswords make an afternoon flight back to Hawaii.
"We are going to do our best to keep the momentum built from today and go into Saturday swinging," said Tjepkema.
The Silverswords will be hungry for a win, having lost 3-1 at Azusa Pacific and 3-2 at Concordia Irvine on Monday and Wednesday. They also play at Point Loma on Thursday.
