LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Women's Tennis was well on its way to its second-straight PacWest Championship berth just 14 matches into its 2020 season. Head Coach David Goodman's group was basically a lock for the tournament after beating PacWest opponents of back-to-back days at the end of February and after shutting out their opponents in five of their seven victories throughout the year.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the women's tennis team from showing its improvement in Surprise, Arizona this year. But thankfully the depth that the Eagles would have depended on at the PacWest tournament will also be their most valuable asset as they turn their attention to the 2020-21 year.

BLT certainly benefited from its upperclassmen leadership. Three-time captain Lauren Lee (two clinchers), Lily Waterhouse (two) and two-year captain Allison Torres (one) combined to clinch five of their team's sever victories this year and won 11 singles matches and 13 doubles decisions between them. And they'll certainly be remembered for how they established the strong character of the squad in 2020 after they played crucial roles in helping the Eagles qualify for the conference championships in 2019. 

This year they were joined by strong showings from a group of freshman and sophomores that did great jobs at the top spots of the lineup for the majority of the season. The freshman tandem of Colbeyshae Emery and Brooke Fager played at the No. 1 doubles line all season and held down the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions for the second half of the year as Biola went 5-2. 

Fager, like sophomore Ines Diaz who played No. 3 singles for the majority of the schedule, was one of six women on the roster who won four singles matches or more on the year. Additionally, Emery had a spectacular start to her collegiate career with a 12-2 record at No. 1 singles that drew multiple looks into the Biola Women's Tennis record books. 

Emery will carry an active 10-match winning streak in singles into 2021, a stretch that is already the longest winning streak for any Biola Women's Tennis player since 2000. And even after playing just 14 matches, her 12 singles wins are the most anyone on BLT has won since Brie Meister went 18-4 in 2004. 

Emery's biggest win in the course of her team's season was definitely her clincher on February 21 at Redlands. But even that match was a great display of how key Biola's depth of talent was to victory. Allison Torres at No. 5 singles and Fager at No. 2 scored two quick points with straight-set wins to give Biola some breathing room. Then Madison Swaney followed up shortly thereafter with multiple breaks in each of her sets to cement the Eagles' fourth point. 

Emery would finish off her match in straight sets just like she would in the next six contests. But the main story in the two contests following the Redlands win was how Biola bageled both of its opponents on the way to back-to-back-to-back victories. 

The tandem of Lauren Lee and Faith Grisham had a strong performance at No. 2 doubles against Hope International while Allison Torres and Anna Hartmann delivered a clutch performance to earn the doubles point. Then the Eagles rolled through singles and continued their run through their Holy Names match.

The Eagles had lost their first five matches against the Hawks coming into their meeting on February 28. But that record turned into a distant memory when Biola earned a 7-0 sweep behind five straight-set singles W's from Goodman's group, including three singles matches that finished within five minutes of each other to clinch the dual match victory. 

One day later, the ladies returned to the Biola Tennis Center and defeated Stanislaus State behind strong play from the top of the lineup. Lee and Grisham won convincingly again, Fager and Emery won with multiple breaks in hand at No. 1. Then Emery, Fager and Diaz won their singles in straights to match Biola Men's Tennis with a four-match winning streak for BLT.

Biola Women's Tennis wrapped up the season with a 5-0 win over Saint Katherine that concluded with Lily Waterhouse and Anna Hartmann finishing their matches at exactly the same moment. 

The seniors who decide to depart from this roster have laid a wonderful foundation of a familial team culture and success on the court. This program and the team that will come together for 2021 will be better for their impact as Biola Women's Tennis builds toward being a power in the PacWest. 

"The future is bright," said Head Coach David Goodman. "Every year we have been building upon the success of the prior year. This next year we will continue to do the same. We are on the verge of something special."