Sioux City, Iowa – The College of Coastal Georgia women's volleyball team dropped its opening match in pool play Tuesday at the 2014 NAIA National Volleyball Championship, presented by J&L Enterprises, falling 3-0 to Biola (Calif.) at the Tyson Events Center.
For the No. 23 Mariners (35-2), the loss was just the team's second of the season. Coastal Georgia's only other loss was a 3-2 defeat at Embry-Riddle on Oct. 1. That loss ended a 17-match win streak by the Mariners to open the season. The Mariners rebounded to win 18 in a row while earning a berth to the national championship final site with a 3-1 victory over Embry-Riddle in an Opening Round match at home on Nov. 22.
Biola, which improved to 29-4 with the victory over the Mariners, is the nation's No. 4-ranked team and is no stranger to the national tournament. The Eagles have made 14 appearances in the event including seven in a row. They reached the final match last season.
On Tuesday, the Eagles used their high-powered offense to turn back the Mariners, who advanced to the final site in their first-ever appearance in the national field. The Eagles won the three sets by scores of 25-14, 26-24, 25-13. Coastal Georgia led a close second set most of the way, only to see the Eagles nip them in the end.
The match featured two of the country's most efficient attacking teams as the Mariners led the nation in hitting efficiency while Biola ranked in the top five as well.
On this day, it was Biola which proved to be more efficient, hitting a whopping .465 for the match with 51 kills and just five errors in 99 attacks.
Coastal Georgia finished hitting just .176 with 36 kills and 17 errors in 108 attempts. The Mariners' hitting percentage was their second-lowest of the season and marked just the third time they hit below .200 this season. The Mariners hit .135 in their loss at Embry-Riddle.
The 36 kills also was a season-low for Coastal Georgia, which led the country going into play at the final site with 14.61 kills a set.
Kara Neisen led the Mariners with 10 kills in 24 attacks and hit .375 for the match. Emma Anderson, the team's kills leader, finished with nine in 21 attempts.
Cayley Meiners finished with 27 assists. Jennifer Johnson led the defense with 10 digs.
Biola, which ranked second in kills per set with 14.35, recorded 18, 19 and 14 kills, respectively, in the three sets. Alyssa Mason led the team with 18 kills in 27 attacks while Joclyn Kirton finished with 13 kills in 23 swings for the Eagles. Amy Weststeyn, the Player of the Year in the Golden State Athletic Conference, finished with nine kills in 15 chances.
Coastal Georgia continues pool play Wednesday against No. 9 Viterbo (Wis.), which defeated Madonna (Mich.) 3-0 in its opener on Tuesday to improve to 36-7 for the season. The match is set for 4:15 p.m. and fans are invited to watch the live stream on campus in Room 112 of the Health and Science Building.
The Mariners will round out pool competition at 2 p.m. Thursday against Madonna. That match will be shown in Stembler Theater on campus.
The top two teams in each of the six pools will advance to the 12-team, single-elimination tournament which begins on Friday.
