LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Each day for the last week of June and first Week of July we will count down Biola Athletics' top-10 moments/achievements from the 2018-19 athletic season. This Tuesday represents day two of this countdown and will feature the No. 9 moment of the year.
#9: Historic Tennis Victories
Biola Tennis has a long history, highlighted with plenty of successes, but the 2019 spring season holds a special place in that history as both programs continue to trend upward. For the first time in program history, both teams made the PacWest Tournament in Surprise, Arizona and that was thanks to some noteworthy regular season wins.
On the men's side - the regular season success hinged on the team's performance against former Golden State Athletic Conference rivals (and typical NAIA powers), Westmont and San Diego Christian.
Leading up to their road match on April 11, the Eagles had lost all 25 matches they've played against Westmont since 2007. That included a 7-2 loss in March of last year. All that history went by the wayside though on that sunny Thursday afternoon in Santa Barbara as Biola managed a landslide 7-2 victory.
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Biola won all six singles matches that day, highlighted by a gritty three-set victory from sophomore Logan Blair. Blair really made it a statement victory by roaring back in the third set with a 6-0 win that completed the Eagles' sweep in singles. It was his second three-set win of the season and the most emphatic by far.Â
The other landmark win over a former GSAC power came much earlier in the season as the Eagles hosted a San Diego Christian squad that had won six of the last seven meetings, including the last three in a row.
Biola handed it to the Hawks with an impressive 4-0 victory that got the Eagles their first win of the 2019 regular season. Just like WC, SDCC had beaten BU during the 2018 season, with a 6-3 scoreline.
Logan Blair and Quentin Lau combined for a 6-1 win at the top doubles spot to help BU to the doubles point. Later in singles, Blair and David Garcia got straight-set wins to lift Biola to the victory by sweep.
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"The guys match was extremely exciting. We played some of the best doubles I've seen our team play since I've been coaching here," said Head Coach David Goodman. "Logan Blair and
Quentin Lau we're amazing."
The women's team enjoyed home court advantage in 2019, going 8-3 at the Biola Tennis Center while posting a 1-9 record elsewhere. It was two PacWest Conference home wins in particular that helped BLT to its first-ever PacWest Tournament berth.Â
The first was the Eagles' 4-3 win over Dominican on March 13. It was Biola's first win of the year against a conference opponent and the team's first win ever over the Dominican Penguins.
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The two teams traded blows for three-and-a-half hours until back-to-back three-set wins from Allison Torres and Esther Lee managed to clinch the win for Biola. It was an incredible comeback for the ladies after the Eagles went down 3-2 in the match and both Lee and Torres went down 0-1 on their courts.Â
Torres won sets two and three in solid fashion (6-2; 6-1) to earn her third singles win of the year and tie the match up 3-3. She then made it over to Lee's court just in time to see the sophomore finish her own come-from-behind win to finish up the match. Lee had to play more games than any other singles player in order to get the job done, but eventually, she proved she had just enough in the tank to take care of business (5-7; 6-2; 6-3).
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A few weeks later Biola managed its first-ever win over Hawaii Hilo to even better its playoff positioning. The Eagles beat the Vulcans 4-3 to rebound quite nicely from a 9-0 loss to UHH in 2018.
Things were looking bleak at the BTC as Hawaii Hilo bounced back after dropping the doubles point by winning each of the first three singles matches off the court to take a 3-1 lead in the match. Ines Diaz quickly re-ignited Biola's hopes with a clutch 7-5 second set win to take her match, 2-0.
That left Lauren Lee and Lily Waterhouse as Biola's last chances. Both were left battling in a third set after winning their first sets and dropping their second. Captain Lauren Lee used sheer will to push her way to a 6-2 victory in the final set of her match and evened the overall score in the dual match. Then
Lily Waterhouse held serve twice late in her third set to push the rubber match to a tiebreak that Waterhouse controlled by winning the final six points of the breaker. Â
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Goodman's teams combined for 19 victories this season - which is the highest combined total in the history of the programs.Â
Honorable Mention: Paige Austin Carves Up APU
Box Score // Recap
Biola Softball was fighting for its postseason life for most of the 2019 PacWest Conference schedule. The Eagles were near the top of the standings and needed to stay there in order to set up what eventually became a run to the National Christian College Athletic Association Championship game.Â
A late-season series against Azusa Pacific at Azusa came after the Eagles already knew they were through to the postseason, but it was no less important as the team was fighting for bragging rights and some respect from their biggest rivals.
APU, on the other hand, had everything to gain (or to lose). The Cougars were right on the bubble for a regional playoff spot in the NCAA Division II postseason. A sweep of Biola on May 2, which would've meant a season-sweep over BU, would have locked up that playoff spot for APU.
Paige Austin had other plans.
The Eagles' ace hurler worked all of the eight innings the two teams played and earned the win with an extra-inning shutout. She struck out 10 Cougars and allowed just five hits to set up the Eagles to get a win on Missy Poti's game-winning hit in the eighth.
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Austin improved to 2-1 all-time against the Cougs. She beat Kat Ung head-to-head, who shared All-PacWest second team honors with her in 2019. Ultimately, Austin's effort in this contest kept Azusa Pacific from qualifying for the NCAA postseason as they finished ninth in the region.
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For the season, Austin was 14-7 with a 1.37 ERA. She logged 142.2 innings and struck out 159 batters. Â
Check back with us tomorrow for the next of our top-10 moments and another honorable mention.
Top-10 Moments:
10. Men's Basketball Comes Back At Hawaii Hilo
9. Historic Tennis Victories
8. Wednesday, June 26
7. Thursday, June 27
6. Friday, June 28
5. Monday, July 1
4. Tuesday, July 2
3. Wednesday, July 3
2. Thursday, July 4
1. Friday, July 5
Honorable Mentions:
Connor Kostecka's Bat Produces Two Walk-Off Hits
Paige Austin Carves Up APU
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