BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. - The NAIA No. 14-ranked Sea Lions battled but lost at No. 3 Biola 3-1 Saturday night in Chase Gymnasium (21-25, 16-25, 25-23, 23-25). The loss snaps Point Loma's five-game win streak.
PLNU is 12-7 overall after the setback and has a 6-4 mark against Golden State Athletic competition. The Eagles improved to 17-4, 9-1 GSAC.
The two conference foes went neck-to-neck in all but the second set. Biola managed to keep one point ahead of the Sea Lions in the opener until finishing up on a 5-2 burst. The Eagles looked to have gained control of the match in the second after a nine-point win to go in front 2-0.
PLNU clawed their way back into the match, however, by claiming the third stanza by a 25-23 score. The set was even at 20-apiece until a series of attack errors by both sides tipped the third, including three-straight by BU, tipped the scales to the Sea Lions' favor.
Biola slowly inched ahead of Point Loma in the fourth and final set, leading by as much as seven points until a 7-1 run put the Sea Lions to within a point and back into contention. The Eagles, as they did all night, utilized a balanced attack to end the set and match.
BU had advantages in most statistical categories including hitting percentage (.276-.194), kills (68-49), digs (77-57) and assists (64-46). The Sea Lions did out-block the Eagles 9-5.
Tabitha Henken led PLNU with 18 kills and also added 12 digs. The only other Sea Lion to register double-figure winners was
Alyssa Dwyer with 11.
Maddie Dahms was next with nine.
Destiny McIntyre had seven kills and six block assists.
Setters
Natalie Hamill and
Aimee Bird had 23 and 17 assists, respectively. Leading the Green and Gold with 16 digs was
Nicole Eiler.
Four Eagles accumulated double-digit kills: Nicolette Mather (18), Kim Russell (14), Christine Douglas (14) and Tavea Hampton (13). In addition there were four BU players with at least 12 digs led by 19 from Emily Weingartner.
The Sea Lions take a few days off before hosting #1 Fresno Pacific Friday night at 7 pm.
