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Scoreboard

Volleyball team huddle
Seia Dreana
0
Vanguard F-30263 3-3,0-2 PacWest
3
Winner Biola F-30220 3-7,1-1 PacWest
Vanguard F-30263
3-3,0-2 PacWest
0
Final
3
Biola F-30220
3-7,1-1 PacWest
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Vanguard F-30263 23 22 23 (0)
Biola F-30220 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Eagles Serve Up Success

A run of five-straight aces sparks a set one win and eventual sweep for BU Volleyball.

LA MIRADA, Calif. — A good night's sleep served Biola Volleyball well. The Eagles had a quick turnaround between last night's five-set defeat at the hands of Fresno Pacific and today's 1 p.m. rivalry renew against Visiting Vanguard.

Biola made sure the Lions knew whose home gym they were at, using an incredible run of five consecutive Simi Kapustova service aces to spark a 6-0 lead in the first set. Despite the visitor's best efforts, that lead would hold out and BU never looked back en route to a thrilling 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-23) win.

"I'm so proud our girls today, and not just because they won," shared head coah Brian Failinger. "Our program's goal focuses on the type of people our girls are becoming in every decision they make. We've been talking a lot in these last few weeks about expecting difficulties in life and pressing into the discomfort when it does, as opposed to letting it paralyze us in worry or fear. They did such a great job of that today. They're great volleyball players and I believe this will build their confidence. They showed they can win regardless of the challenges the team is facing (and we have a lot of them right now). I can't wait to see how they keep growing this year."

Each set was very tight but at the end of the day, Biola's performance in serve-receive and blocking at the net was just enough better off than the Lions' effort in order to secure the win. The Eagles finished the match with 15 service aces and nine service errors, while Vanguard chalked up less than half of the aces (7) while recording the same number of serving errors (9).

Kapustova's five aces in a row helped her to finish the match with a season-best six aces. Hannah Hanson was also a part of the serving fun, adding four aces of her own with no errors. Hanson's four aces were also her season-best.

"We are so pumped," said Kapustova. "After yesterday's loss we were ready to get back at it. As a middle [serving] is not normal. But, getting there and having the whole team cheering for you, and just knowing the put the pressure on was really good."

At the net, the Eagles led their opponent in blocks for just the third time this season. Biola finished with seven stuffs, compared to just five for Vanguard. This is a positive shift for a BU team that struggled working around the block in the past two matches where the Biola opponents had a combined 27 blocks.

It was Kapustova yet again leading the charge on the block. The first-year Eagle was involved in five of Biola's seven blocks. Two of those five came almost back-to-back in the first set, helping BU to a 13-5 and then 14-6 advantage. Each of those blocks would prove critical as Vanguard rallied back into it to make the set close at the end. The Lions, despite their troubles receiving the ball, managed to chalk up a .406 hitting percentage in that first game.

Biola ended up hitting .218 in the match, which is a new season high for this new-look offense which has seen a lot of tinkering early on. Madison Moore and Payton Tully both had nine kills to pace the attack, which only needed 33 total kills to put this match away. The 33 total team kills is 17 lower than in any of the Eagles' other wins this season. 

Moore was critical in closing out the third set. Her kills provided Biola's 22nd, 23rd and 25th points in the clinching game.

With the win, Biola improves to 3-7 overall and pulls its PacWest Conference record to a level 1-1. This match was the first time Biola and Vanguard met in PacWest play, and the first match at all between the two since the 2016 season. Biola has dominated the all-time series over the Lions, now sporting a 58-10 overall record vs. Vanguard.

"We are looking forward to more home and away games, putting pressure on other teams and just playing hard matches," Kapustova said.

Biola will wipe this memory out of their minds quickly as due up next is a road matchup against Azusa Pacific inside the Felix Event Center. The Cougars are 6-3 overall and 2-0 in conference contests in 2024. The two teams play on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Azusa.

 
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