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Scoreboard

becca Branch smiling
George Rodriguez
1
Simon Fraser SF 2-4
3
Winner Biola BIO 3-2
Simon Fraser SF
2-4
1
Final
3
Biola BIO
3-2
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Simon Fraser SF 25 20 24 20 (1)
Biola BIO 21 25 26 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Eagles Break Through For Win

Biola digs deep in a crucial third set, which carries it to 3-1 win over SFU.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. --- Keeping with the theme of last week, Biola Volleyball began its Saturday with a win. The Eagles had a tough day yesterday, but bounced back in a big way Saturday afternoon to set aside Simon Fraser, 3-1 (21-25; 25-20; 26-24; 25-20).

It was far from easy, and the win certainly did not look as if it was in the cards early on as Biola fell behind 15-5 in the very first game. But, finding a way to make the opening game competitive with a long, late run allowed the Eagles to build some momentum to sustain them for the rest of the match. 

"That was a very good mental challenge for us," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "It was the first time this year that we mentally went through a tough match and executed well."

There were a few unforced errors by BU early in the first set, but it was more so just an absolutely on fire start from the SFU hitters that allowed Canada's NCAA team to open up its double-digit lead. 

An attack error from BU got SFU to that 15-5 point, but that would be their last favorable result for awhile, as that's precisely the moment the Eagles' woke up and began their run to get back into it. Two aces, four SFU errors and an Abby Brewster kill helped BU pull back to down just 16-14.

They couldn't complete the comeback in that opening set as the Clan managed to win three of the final four rallies of the set, but the stage was set for the thrilling rest of the match. 

There was not a whole lot of separation between the two sides for the final three games, with set three even needing extra points for the Eagles to lock it down.

The second game was almost an exact opposite from game one, with Biola winning the first six points and cruising to a large advantage for much of the set. They led by as much as 10 at several points throughout the set, but SFU kept hanging in there, bringing it back to a five-point margin by the end of things.

Through two sets, Biola only hit into a block once. That would be a theme throughout the match as BU would ultimately out-block the Clan, 10-3. That effort was led by five each from senior Sabrina Winslow and freshman Abigail Copeland. 

The third set would be the closest contested of all throughout the morning. The Eagles were looking to reverse the trend of starting the year 1-5 in third sets.

A four-point run in the latter-middle of the third put Biola in a tight spot, trailing 17-13 in the swing set. The Clan would keep Seltzer's squad at arms length for a while, maintaining a three-point advantage as late as 20-17. 

Then two Abby Brewster kills bookended a five-point run for Biola that forced Simon Fraser to take a late timeout with the Eagles up 22-20. SFU used a big block to tie it up at 22-22 and then the two teams traded points until BU had a chance to take the game with a 25-24 advantage. A big swing from Becca Branch closed out the game and sent the Eagles into the fourth game with an advantage they were very grateful for.

"If we don't win that third, then the match goes a different direction," said Seltzer.

Both teams traded short runs early in game four, but for the most of the game, neither team had a lead of more than 2-3. The Eagles never trailed by more than one. The turning point came at 20-20 when the Eagles' Becca and Bakah put up three points in a row for BU to set up a clean finish to the match.

A block from Brewster and Raegan Tjepkema would shut down Simon Fraser for good and bring that final set to a close at 25-20.

Branch was the Eagles' big swinger throughout the match, taking 32 swings and getting a team-best 14 of those to land in for Biola kills. Her .250 clip in this one is a new season-best. The 14 kills is her career-best.

Brewster was fantastic yet again as she came up just one kill shy of her first career triple-double. The redshirt freshman had nine kills (.304), a team-best 30 assists and 12 digs to tie with Winslow for the second-most points in the match.

Winslow's effort was a combination of strong play at the net (season-best 5 blocks), a dangerous attack (nine kills) and her typical good work in the back row (12 digs). Sami Hover (11) and Branch (13) joined Winslow and Brewster with double-digit digs.

It was the first time this season that Biola's had one player lead it in digs and kills (Branch).

"It was a good team effort. Our offense was very balanced and Becca Branch was really great," said Seltzer.

The Eagles' blocking was the big difference maker when things got tight. BU had six blocks over the last two games and it helped them create a narrow advantage in attack efficiency in both frames.

The win helps BU answer its 0-2 start to this tournament and improve to 3-4 on the season. They have an interesting matchup Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. as they face a CSU San Marcos team that came into the week 5-0 and has since suffered losses to Alaska Anchorage (1-3), Simon Fraser (0-3) and Point Loma (0-3).
 
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