By Beth Renkoski
11/05/09
No. 10 Eagles Escape Lions' Clutch
La Mirada, Calif. – The Vanguard Lions were one point from victory on multiple occasions this evening, but the No. 10-ranked Biola Eagles clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the No. 11 Lions 3-2 in a GSAC volleyball match.
Vanguard charged into the match with a 25-19 victory in the first set. Leading from start to finish, the Lions stretched the gap to as many as eight points before notching the six-point win.
Biola held a slight lead for much of the second set but the Lions pulled even 20-20 and took the lead on a kill by sophomore Lisa Morgan. Senior Heather DeJongh put the visitors ahead for good and classmate Kelsey Wirt nailed the set-winner (25-22) to give the Lions a commanding 2-0 lead.
The third-set battle was intense with no more than two points separating the two teams until the very end. Trailing 24-22, Vanguard came from behind with a kill from Wirt and a block by Meghan Walsh and Jessica Roy, pulling ahead on an Eagle error. Now leading 25-24, the Lions needed only one point for a sweep. However, the delay of a Biola timeout would prove enough of a distraction to extend the match for the Eagles. Trading points, the Lions held a match-point advantage again against Biola, leading 27-26, but the Eagles escaped again. This time the Eagles rattled off three straight points to take the 29-27 victory and extend the match to a fourth set.
Set number four was much like the third set as the two teams fought for each point. Vanguard pushed the Eagles to match-point four times, but each time the Eagles sustained the threat and put a potential Lion victory on hold. Finally, trailing 28-29, the Eagles mounted a three-point charge to push the match to the five-set limit.
Biola broke a 7-7 tie in the fifth set and seemed to take control after the teams switched sides of the court midway through the deciding set. Taking a 10-9 lead, the Eagles would out-score the Lions 5-3 from there to win the match with a 15-12 decision in the fifth set.
Biola improved to 10-6 in GSAC and 19-8 overall, remaining one place ahead of the Lions in the GSAC standings.
DeJongh led three Lions in double-figure attacking with 19 kills, with Jamie Heenan close behind with 16 and Wirt with 11 kills. Walsh tallied 50 assists and Ariel Strickler picked up a team-high 29 digs for the Lions, who slip to 16-11 overall and 10-8 in GSAC with two regular-season matches remaining on the schedule.
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