Box Score
SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- Three-set sweeps are difficult to come by in intercollegiate varsity volleyball, but especially so when you begin competition at a tournament featuring the top-24 teams in the nation. That makes No. 4 Biola's three-set dandy (25-14, 26-24, 25-13) over No. 23 Coastal Georgia that much sweeter.
 
The far more experienced Eagles team took it to the Mariners, who were making just their first ever appearance at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championship Tournament after winning the Southern States Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.
 
"I'm excited. We had a great two weeks of practice leading up to this," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "The girls worked really hard and they were focused. We had a good game plan, and they executed it very well."
 
The experience of three four-year seniors and returning players from last year's national runner-up team helped the Eagles get off to a screaming start in a fabulous first set.
 
Biola kept Coastal Georgia's attackers at bay with phenomenal defense, especially by senior Jaci Schork, who was diving all over the court and serving tough for the Eagles all match long.
 
Alyssa Mason led the way on the attack in a first set that saw Biola hit .438 and hold the Mariners to a miniscule .062 attack percentage. Impressively, the .438 number was the lowest Biola would hit in any set all match, as the offensive onslaught worked overtime throughout all three sets, resulting in a .465 cumulative attack percentage.
 
Mason leads everyone in the Eagles' pool, pool D, with a .667 individual attack percentage after day one. She was the team leader with 18 kills and did not make a single attacking error against Coastal Georgia. The All-GSAC junior outside hitter had a big coming-out party in the tournament last season, and so far seems to be continuing the trend.
 
The second set was all about some clutch attacking by Joclyn Kirton late. The Eagles' other All-GSAC junior outside hitter was on point at exactly the right time, saving Biola from what was a Coastal Georgia set point when the Eagles were down 24-23. Kirton secured two of the final three points of that set with kills, helping the Eagles get the 26-24 win in the only close set in the match. The other point was a Schork ace, one of two on the afternoon that put the senior atop the pool in that statistical category.
 
The third set was a gimme as Biola was already firing on all cylinders despite weather in between the teens and the forties over the past several days in Iowa. Biola held the Mariners to just 10 kills in the final set, their lowest output of the day, while tacking on 19 kills of its own to secure the match.
 
"That was definitely a match we prepared for and watched a lot of film on, so it felt pretty good to be able to take them down in three and execute our plan," said Mason. "We play well because we play together as a team. It was great setting, serving, passing and everything just kind of meshed together as a unit."
 
Kirton and Mason were the only Eagles to get to double-digit kills in a strong team attacking game. Kirton ended the match with 13 kills and a .565 attack percentage.
 
Biola's setters split time virtually evenly, with both doing a solid job of finding the right attacker to find what was sometimes a gaping hole in the middle left by Coastal Georgia. Allison Spencer racked up 20 assists and Ashton Arbuthnot posted 22.
 
"Our setting was great. Those are two of the three kids on our roster that have never played in this tournament before and I think they did really well," said Seltzer.
 
The Eagles did not have much a chance to rack up a lot of blocks, grabbing just four total on the afternoon, but they did face a Mariners squad that surrendered 17 attacking errors and hit just .176.
 
Biola improves to 29-4 with the win and snaps Coastal Georgia's 18-game winning streak to drop the Mariners to 35-2.
 
The night will now be filled with film analysis, rest and some refueling as Biola turns around and faces Madonna (MI) in the middle game of pool play tomorrow morning. The game is at 11:00 a.m. (PDT) and 1:00 p.m. (CT).
 
Viterbo (WI) beat Madonna 3-0 in the other pool D game on Tuesday.