Biola’s Fall Sports Makes History
Biola fall sports are surpassing some of the best season starts in the university’s history. The Eagle volleyball and women’s cross country teams are ranking among the top ten in NAIA while Biola’s soccer programs are showing great improvement over last year’s season. Men’s cross country is also stepping up from top to bottom with one of the fastest overall teams in school history.
The Eagles have promising seasons ahead of them with all four sports showing great potential of reaching the NAIA National Tournaments. Below is a team-by-team look at the 2008 Fall Sports teams.
Volleyball
Biola is currently ranked No. 4 in the NAIA and is off to a 15-0 start that matches the second-best start in school history. The school record, set in 1996, is 23-0.
Biola has six seniors on the squad this year and returns all seven starters from the 2007 team which reached the NAIA National Semifinals and finished with a 32-8 overall record. The Eagles have already beaten a number of strong teams in 2008, including five wins over Top-25 teams so far.
The GSAC is the most talented volleyball conference in the NAIA. The top five teams in the latest NAIA rankings are all from the GSAC with seven conference teams ranked in the top 16.
Biola has the teeth of its schedule coming up within the next two weeks, traveling to face No. 3 Concordia on Saturday, Sept. 27, then hosting No. 1 Fresno Pacific the following Tuesday, Sept. 30. The Eagles wrap up the first half of the GSAC schedule with a match against No. 2 California Baptist at home, during Parent's Weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Cross Country
The Biola cross country teams have continued to grow under the direction of third-year coach Jonathan Zimmerman. The women's team has moved into the NAIA Top 10, opening the year at No. 5 in the preseason poll. The men are also receiving votes in the national poll.
The Biola women's team has started the season with a pair of impressive performances against some of the top teams on the West Coast. The Eagles placed eighth in both of their meets, thus far, in fields which included a number of NCAA Division I and II schools which are nationally ranked in their own divisions. Leading the group is junior Kristin Schmidt, who has earned numerous NAIA All-American honors in both cross-country and track in her two years at Biola.
On the men's side, Biola has one of its fastest overall teams in the program's history. The men took top honors in the open race at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13, and were 11th in a tough field at the UC Irvine meet to open the season. The men's squad has been led by freshman David Ricksecker. He has been Biola's top male runner through the first two races.
The cross-country team will host the Biola Invitational meet for the first time in four years. The meet will be held at Irvine Regional Park in Orange on Saturday, October 25. The first race starts at 8:30 a.m. Admission to the event is free and open to all fans.
Men's Soccer
Biola's men's soccer team got off to the best start in the program's 48-year history, winning its first five matches to open the 2008 campaign at 5-0-0. The Eagles suffered their first loss of the season last week, but look to rebound on Saturday, Sept. 27, as they open GSAC play against The Master's College at home.
Biola has a young team with just a handful of upperclassmen, while they welcomed in 12 new faces to the program at the start of the season. Two of those newcomers, sophomore transfer Kennedy Chongo and freshman Marco Ruvalcaba, have been huge for the Eagles at the outset of the season.
Chongo, a transfer from NAIA Trinity International University in Illinois, has scored four goals in his first five games at Biola including a pair of goals in the Eagles 4-1 win over the Academy of Arts on Monday, Sept. 15. The young man from Zambia has electrified the Biola offense with his great ball control and explosive speed.
Ruvalcaba is no stranger to the Biola soccer program, having played at nearby La Mirada High School under the direction of current Biola assistant coach Phil Yovino. Ruvalcaba has scored three times this season including a pair of match-winners.
Biola's two seniors should not be overlooked as well. Brandon Gonzalez, a two-time all-GSAC defender, and midfielder Nick Bautista have each contributed both on and off the pitch with Gonzalez scoring a game-winning goal at Claremont College and Bautista recording a pair of assists on the young season.
The Eagles have one final non-conference match before entering play in the GSAC next week. Biola has an unbelievably tough stretch during the month of October that has the team playing three matches in 10 days against NAIA Top-20 teams. It begins with a trip up to face No. 2 Fresno Pacific on Wednesday, Oct. 8, followed by a home contest against No. 16 Concordia University on Saturday, Oct. 11. After a road contest at Hope International on Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Eagles travel to archrival and No. 7 Azusa Pacific University on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Women's Soccer
The Eagles are off to a strong start under first-year Head Coach Todd Elkins. Biola is 3-1-0 and has already matched it win total from a frustrating 2007 season which saw the Eagles post a 3-11-2 overall record.
The Biola offense is generating a lot of shots, outshooting their opponents 72-12 this year. While the Eagles have scored just four goals thus far, the ball is sure to find the back of the net more often as the season wears on should these numbers continue.
The women's soccer team is also a young team with just one senior among the ranks, Brittany Neill. Neill has already tallied an impressive goal this season. She scored the lone goal in Biola's 1-0 win over William Penn University (Iowa) with a long blast into the back of the goal.
As was the case with volleyball, the GSAC is a powerhouse conference when it comes to women's soccer. The GSAC currently boasts five teams in the NAIA Top-25. The Eagles will have their hands full when conference play kicks off next week. Biola had a rare three-week break during the month of September due to a preseason trip to Japan in August. The Eagles return to action on September 27, hosting The Master's College in their GSAC opener.
Biola's toughest stretch comes near the end of the season as the Eagles travel to take on No. 2 Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 18. That match is followed by home matches against perennial GSAC powerhouse Westmont College on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and No. 7 California Baptist in the Eagles final home match on Wednesday, Oct. 29.