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Scoreboard

Kendall Vandertuig ready
Matthew Johnston
1
Biola BIO 0-1,0-0 PacWest
3
Winner Cal State LA LA 1-0,0-0 CCAA
Biola BIO
0-1,0-0 PacWest
1
Final
3
Cal State LA LA
1-0,0-0 CCAA
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Biola BIO 11 25 21 23 (1)
Cal State LA LA 25 16 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Ethan McGarvey, Sports Information Director

Season Opener Sees BU Take On Reigning Champs

BU volleyball hit the court for the first time in 2024 and took a set off of No. 1 ranked Cal State LA.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. --- The Biola volleyball 2024 season kicked off on Thursday at the Yotes Classic Showcase. The team's opening bout came against the reigning NCAA DII Champions and current top-ranked Golden Eagles of Cal State LA. BU took set two but dropped the match in four sets.

BU saw the highs and the lows of a season opening match, competing well against the No. 1 team in the nation. BU tacked on 32 kills in the match and posted two sets with a plus-.170 hitting percentage.

Brian Failinger made his debut on Thursday, leading the Eagles in his first match as head coach.  "Interestingly, I thought I'd be a lot more nervous than I ended up being at game time," commented Failinger after the game. "I was just excited to get to play the number one team in the nation in my first game as a head coach. We really couldn't lose. If we beat them, then awesome! If not, it's a great gauge to see where the team is at and where we need to get to in order to be a championship caliber team."

The Eagles fought through a tough set number one to compete for the match at hand. Despite scoring just 11 points in the opening game, BU did not waver and came back strong.

Set two saw a different BU team, turning in 10 kills with a .280 hitting percentage. The Eagles took control off of Madison Moore's serve, piling on five-straight points for an 11-5 lead. The team did not relent, maintaining the lead for a 25-16 win in set two. The BU defense disrupted the Golden Eagle attack, causing eight attack errors,while Payton Tully and Kendall Vandertuig went to work on offense with a combined seven kills in the set.

Following two blowout sets, the match settled in with back-to-back tight-knit games to close out the day. 

Set three was back and forth with 13 ties and eight lead changes. The largest lead of the set was just four points for CSULA but the set came down to a final push from the Golden Eagles, as they scored the final three points to secure the set at 25-21.

Hannah Guzzetti shined in set number four with four kills in the middle. The redshirt freshman made her debut with five kills on nine attempts. Two kills from Guzzetti helped the Eagles win five-consecutive rallies early in the set. The two teams inched towards the end, tying at 20, 21, 22, and 23 but it was CSULA to clinch the match with back-to-back rally wins for the 25-23 finish.

Lexi Lambert dawned the setter duties on Thursday in her first match as an Eagle. The Dallas Baptist transfer provided 22 assists and nine digs with an ace.

BU's libero Bri Bellfi covered the back row with 16 digs. At the net, the defense was a team effort with multiple blocks from Vandertuig, Madison Moore, Simi Kapustova, and Tully. 

"We definitely have a lot of growing to do, but the team showed a lot of good things today, and I'm proud of them for regrouping and battling after that tough first set," added Failinger. "The future is very bright for our program!"

Biola will be back in action at the Yotes Classic Showcase on Friday, taking on the hosting Yotes of CSU San Bernardino at 2:30 pm.
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