LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Tennis began its 2021 campaigns on Saturday morning in sunny skies at the Biola Tennis Center. Both the women and men's teams faced off against the St. Katherine Firebirds and both earned 7-0 victories. 

"It was amazing to finally be able to compete," said Head Coach David Goodman. "We are blessed to get to play the sport we love. The teams played well today and I am proud of both groups."

It was a great way for Goodman to showcase his new talent as eight of the 14 players to see time on the court today were not on the Biola roster last year.

The day began with women's doubles, seeing new partners Colbeyshae Emery and Mary Brascia dispatch their opponents without dropping a game in what seemed like a match that last not more than 10 minutes. They were methodical and dominant and set the tone for what would be a winning remainder of the day.

With the long halt to competition, both teams decided to play all matches out rather than play to clinch, which has become the custom. So, Biola got to earn three solid wins on each of the doubles courts, rather than having to leave one unfinished.

Brooke Fager and Lilly McNeill won a back-and-forth match at no. 2 (6-4) and Madison Swaney and Amelia Kitts took the match on court three by a 6-3 tally. All three pairings featured one returner and one newbie, but the cohesion never seemed amiss.

"We have quite a few new members of the team and I was impressed with how we put things together considering the lack of competition to this point," said Goodman.

After securing the doubles point, the women's contingent proceeded to singles where Gaby Carvajal and Ines Diaz filled in for Kitts and Swaney. 

Carvajal took the No. 3 spot in Goodman's lineup and made good with a straight-set (6-4; 6-0) victory. The Eagles would win all six matches in straights, with four of the six second sets finishing like Carvajals with a 6-0 score line. 

Similar to the dominance shown by Brascia and Emery in doubles, Diaz dispatched her opponent in very, very quick fashion playing down in the No. 6 spot. She took it with a pair of donut victories, which is what you expect when you've got a player of Diaz' caliber (played mostly no. 2 the last two years) in the six spot. 

That's the incredible depth of this Biola women's side, and it's a big reason coach Goodman believes it is now officially a new era of Biola Women's Tennis.

After the final point of Emery's 6-2, 7-5 win at the No. 1 spot, it was quickly the men's turn to take the court and see if they could pitch the shutout against the Firebirds just as the women had.

The match began in very similar sentiment as Alexei Prokopchuk and Sebastian Herrera took down their opposing doubles team 6-0 to pace a second doubles sweep. Alex Sedeno and Isaac Cordova won 6-3 and Erik Martinez and Andres Meneses grinded their way to a 7-5 mark on court number three.

For Herrera, it was his first intercollegiate match since fall 2019. It sure didn't show through as he helped Prokopchuk to the huge win and then bounced over to singles where he took the No. 2 spot easily with a 6-2, 6-1 win. He and Prokopchuk seem to be a formidable 1-2 punch for Goodman, possibly among the best in the PacWest Conference.

Just like in the women's match, all six singles matches went in Biola's favor in straight sets. Both Cordova and Martinez had some well-battled second sets that were very close, but the Eagles managed to pull out the wins to get them done and out of the hot sun.

The wins help Biola move to 1-0 on the season. Up next for BU is a home doubleheader against Concordia Irvine on Friday, Feb. 12.