California Baptist University
Biola University (Calif.)
LANCERS SECOND IN GSAC
11/10/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
LA MIRADA, Calif. ? Verania Willis closed out her final regular season as a Lancer with a 35-kill performance Saturday night in a 3-1 (30-28, 30-27, 25-30, 30-28) win by California Baptist over No. 4 Biola. Willis made it a double-double with 13 digs to lead the Lancers (25-3, 18-2 GSAC) to a second place finish in the Golden State Athletic Conference with the win over the Eagles (27-6, 14-6 GSAC).
Yudelka Bonilla and Shi Fei joined Willis with double-doubles of their own. Both Bonilla and Fei had 16 kills while Bonilla had 20 digs and Fei had 10 digs. Kayla Van Duyn had a match-high 64 assists and seven digs. Katrina Clark had a match-high 22 digs. Rachel Gowen and Van Duyn both had four blocks.
The Lancers knew they were in for the long haul after seven lead changes in the opening game as neither team led by more than three. CBU broke a 28-28 tie on a Maggie McGill error and then took a 1-0 match lead on a Willis kill that sealed the game.
Game two followed the same route as the lead changed hands four times and came out with the same result with the Lancers on top. CBU led 18-15, but the Eagles answered with three straight and then took the lead at 22-21. The Lancers trailed 23-21, but scored four consecutive points to take a 25-23 lead and never lost it on the way to going up 2-0 in the match.
Biola never trailed in game three making it 2-1 before the Lancers answered in the fourth and final game. CBU trailed 13-9, but went on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 15. The Eagles scored the next three points, but once again the Lancers battled back to tie the game at 19 and then eventually took a 23-21 lead. After CBU led 26-23, Biola charged back to tie the game at 26, 27 and 28 before another Willis kill and another BU error gave the Lancers the match.
The Lancers now wait to see who their NAIA Region II first round opponent will be. CBU will be the second seed and will play the seventh seed in Van Dyne Gymnasium, Tuesday.
