AZUSA, Calif.—Concordia swept an opponent for the third straight match to start the season before falling to No. 5-ranked Biola University 3-0 in action at the Cougar Classic on Friday.

 

With the results, Concordia moved to 3-1 on the season. The Cavaliers will return to action on Saturday by facing No. 6 APU (2-0) and The Master’s College (0-0).

 

After tight first and second sets against Vanguard (1-2), Concordia went on to finish off the Lions in three (26-24, 25-23, 25-18). In the afternoon match, the Cavs found themselves on the opposite side of close sets before perennial NAIA power Biola (1-1) seized control in the third to complete the 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 sweep.

 

 

Sophomore Melanie Miller erupted for 14 kills on 19 attacks for a .737 hit rate to propel CU to its third straight 3-0 win to start the year.

 

The Cavs started slow by falling behind 9-3 before a 7-1 run squared the set at 10-10. The scoreboard showed 11 more ties throughout the set as neither team created more than a two-point separation the rest of the way.

 

Facing set-point with a 24-23 deficit, Lindsey Montgomery evened the score with an assist from teammate Lindsay Mangan. An attacking error on the next play gave Concordia set point with the score 25-24 before a kill by Mangan ended the back-and-forth affair.

 

Vanguard grabbed the early lead again in the second set with as much as a five-point advantage with the score 13-8. Despite 10 attacking errors, Concordia came back to hit .407 for the set and rally for the 25-23 win after not taking a lead until 19-18.

 

A 4-0 start reversed the earlier trend in the third and final set for the Cavs, as they eventually settled for the seven-point win and the clean sweep.

 

With Miller the lone Cavalier hitter in double-figures in kills, Concordia was aided by 22 attacking errors and seven service errors from the Lions. Vanguard’s Kristen Markowitz led the match with 15 kills while her setter, Alexandra Leja, tallied 33 assists compared to 27 for CU setter Mangan.

 

Being pushing to within a couple of points of dropping the opening set, the NAIA’s sixth-ranked team Biola University used steady play to deliver Concordia’s first loss of the season.

 

The teams traded points for most of the opening set, combining for nine ties, the last of which occurred with the score 20-20. Three straight points gave the Eagles a 23-20 advantage but back-to-back points gave CU a response to within a point. The rally would proves to be short lived as a service error gave BU set point before taking the opener 25-22 behind assisted blocks by Christine Douglas and Rachel Buckley.

 

In the second set, Concordia once again gave the Eagles a scare by rallying to within two points late n the match. With the score 17-15 in favor of Biola, the Eagles reeled off an 8-2 run to avoid a repeat from the previous session.

 

Up 2-0, Biola hit .375 in the third set to stake a 24-13 lead before CU went on a five-point run to stall the decisive match point.

 

Led by nine kills from Douglas, Biola outhit CU .254 to .112. Concordia used a versatile offense as six players recorded at least four kills each. Leslie Hanks paced CU with seven kills and was followed by six each from Melanie Miller and Clair Thiel, five from Jane Moesche and four from Lindsay Mangan and Cassandra Koering.

 

Mangan finished with a match-high 25 assists while Aubrey Concannon ended with a match-high 24 digs, giving the senior libero 46 digs in six sets of play.