Box Score
SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- It was exactly what a match at the top level of collegiate volleyball is supposed to look like. The No. 4 Biola Eagles and No. 9 Viterbo V-Hawks traded blows all match long until Biola closed it out in the fourth set to get a 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23) win, the Pool D title and its fifth-straight berth in the NAIA Quarterfinals.
 
"I'm really proud of our team," said senior middle blocker Amy Weststeyn. "That was definitely not an easy game. Viterbo is so strong and they're really scrappy. I'm so proud of us for getting through it, sticking together through the highs and the lows and realizing we are a good team and can be confident in that."
 
Confidence was evident on both sides of the floor tonight as the two teams seemed to be dialed in for most of the match. The two offensive juggernauts went head-to-head in a game that decided the winner of pool D as both teams entered play with a 2-0 record through the beginning of pool play.
 
Alicia Olson was the key focus of most of Biola's scouting and preparation, and deservedly so as she is one of the top-5 attackers in the NAIA and dropped 35 kills on the Eagles in Biola's season-opening five-set loss to the V-Hawks.
 
Biola was more successful at thwarting Olson's attempts on this particular afternoon, and that effort could be what made all the difference in this match that had a difference so small it could have easily been an opposite outcome.
 
The Eagles held Viterbo's outstanding senior to 21 kills, which was still the match-high, but her attack percentage was at just .169 on her 71 attacks, as opposed to the .444 mark she posted in the earlier match.
 
"It took us a little bit to settle into a good rhythm, but once we did I think we did a good job and handled the hitters we needed to handle on the other side," said Assistant Coach Abbie Wright.
 
Britta Blaser and Amy Weststeyn were much more efficient than Olso and served as the Eagles' primary attacking tandem in this one, with backup from a just-as-threatening trio of Alyssa Mason, Joclyn Kirton and Lauren Hoenecke.
 
The group of five hit an average in the mid-.200s with Weststeyn leading the way with her .483 mark and team-high 15 kills. Blaser had her best attacking game of the tournament with 13 kills, .286 hitting mark and 3.5 of Biola's 16 total blocks.
 
The Eagles ended pool play with 38 blocks in three games to lead all of the teams in pool D and the rest of the teams in the tournament.
 
"I think that towards the end of the game our blockers were really impressive," said Wright. "I think we keyed in on people and it helped our defense settle in a little bit and we blocked way better than the first time we played them."
 
While each set was close, Biola rode its confidence and sound hitting through the first two sets before Viterbo began to make noise in the third set. Biola had its worst hitting set of the night (.186) in the second set loss. Then, the V-Hawks made it very interesting in the fourth with a very impressive sideout percentage of 82 percent.
 
The Eagles pulled through thanks to a few service aces and a bunch of blocks and solidified their win with a Jaci Schork service ace right at Viterbo's all-conference libero, Jennifer Krentz.
 
The Eagles and V-Hawks both advance in the tournament as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the pool, but Biola goes straight into the quarterfinals while Viterbo has to play its way in on Friday morning.
 
Biola improved to 31-4 with its 19^th-straight win and the V-Hawks fell to 37-8.
 
More information on the tournament and updates on the single-elimination can be found here.