Oct. 21, 2007

San Diego, CA (10/20) -No. 10 Point Loma Nazarene upset the No. 4 Biola University Eagles in five intense games (24-30, 30-23, 29-31, 30-16, 15-13) Saturday afternoon in Golden Gymnasium. Biola is now 19-14 on the season and 10-4 in Golden State Athletic Conference play while PLNU progresses to a 15-8 record on the season and a 7-7 record in GSAC play.

"Tonight was a redeeming match for us," head coach Aurora Salas said after the game. 

The Sea Lions looked like a different team from the last time they played the Eagles when they were swept in three games (30-26, 30-29, 30-24) on September 15 match.

"We really played like a team tonight," Melissa Boer said, wincing as she unwrapped the tape that had bound her foot for the match. Boer attributed the prior loss to Biola to the fact that it was the beginning of the season, and said that the team's new rotation has helped.

"Everyone did their job well, and they had fun doing it," Boer said.

Things were looking down for Point Loma at the end of the first game, though. After an even fight up to the 19-19 tie, the Eagles began to dominate. Aided by a series of ball handling errors by the Sea Lions, Biola took a five-point run to pick up a commanding lead and, eventually, win 30-24.

Point Loma got their game together in the three minutes between game one and game two.

"I think everyone pulled together and did their part," said Christy Dueck. She said the game changed because the team was able to unify and communicate.

The Sea Lions took control in game two after a three-point run, to make the score 14-10. A series of small runs, with intermittent, edge-of-your-seat rallies, brought Point Loma into a 30-23 victory in game two.

Biola answered in game three, scraping by with a 31-29 victory over PLNU with a finishing kill from Eagle's leading scorer Meghan Warkentin.

BU was just one game away from a tough road win but fell apart in game four, giving Point Loma its easiest win of the night, 30-16. Jennifer Michaelson and Boer made the Eagles feel their presence as they blasted kill after kill onto Biola's side of the court. 

The crowd responded to the intensity of a deciding fifth set. Both teams rewarded the crowd with a neck-and-neck battle highlighted with great offense and defense on each sides of the net.

Neither team led by more than two points in the final game. A kill from Michaelson brought the Sea Lions within pouncing distance of the win at 14-12, only to be contested with a kill from the Eagles' Kelsey Mitchell. Point Loma finished the game with a block from Connie Irwin and Christy Dueck, ending the game 15-13 and the match, three games to two.

"[The team] played with heart," Salas said.

Boer used that heart to get hit 26 kills for her team along with 25 digs. Michaelson followed with 16 kills of her own and a top-five all time 34 digs. Zoe Beltz added 15 kills to the team's total of 74. The girls played great defense as well, as Natalie Acklin had her hand in 10 blocks, and Christy Dueck had six.

Jill Konderik contributed 20 digs in the win with Amanda Bevins and Kylie Morel distributing 37 and 29 assists, respectively.

Biola's leading hitter was Meghan Warkentin, who had 21 kills to hit .194 percent. Katie Steven's had 28 of the Eagle's 122 total digs.