Box Score SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- Biola knew going in that it was facing a top-tier defensive team and would need to push its attack as hard as possible in order to ensure a NAIA National Championship Tournament Quarterfinal win over Eastern Oregon, and for the most part it did just that en route to a 3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 25-13, 25-20) win.
 
With Concordia losing in four sets to No. 2 Park (Mo.) and Vanguard dropping one to Missouri Baptist, Biola is the lone team remaining from the Golden State Athletic Conference. It marks two years in a row that Biola is the deepest reaching GSAC team at the volleyball tournament.

The Eagles win over Eastern Oregon sets up a date with that No. 2 Park team tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. PT. However, the Eagles would not even be thinking of that upcoming match if not for some strong blocking and clutch hitting and defense in the final two sets of tonight's match.
 
Biola made it through the first set off adrenaline and the fact that the Mountaineers were still recovering from the fatigue of a five-set match they played earlier this afternoon, but service errors, setting errors, blocking errors and virtually any other type of error possible bit Biola in its set two loss and had the Eagles looking like they had their back to the ropes.
 
"The girls had to battle a team that presented an incredible defense," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "Nothing is ever easy, but we kept the pressure on this team despite our attempts to give away free points in the form of errors."
 
The Eagles had a rough go of it early on before eventually straightening out their mental mistakes, but even with the fixes late still ended with double-digit attack errors, the second-most blocking errors they've had at this tournament and the most service errors they've had in a match since Aug. 29.
 
Following the second set, which Seltzer called the Eagles' worst of the tournament, Biola rebounded in a big way with one of its best of the tournament so far. They racked up 18 kills, a match-high, and limited to just two attack errors in the set three 25-13 runaway win.
 
That set win changed the entire feel of the match as Biola began to see the finish line and its berth in the semifinals inching closer.
 
"It's all about our energy," said freshman setter Allison Spencer. "When we come out strong right out of the gates it really makes a difference as we pick up momentum in the game."
 
The momentum carried the Eagles through the fourth set against an unusually strong defensive team that all night long handled any attack the Eagles could throw at them.
The Mountaineers ended the match with 67 digs on Biola's 133 inbound attacks. EOU was led by Jessalyn Smith, its stud libero, who had 18 digs. Not to be outdone, Biola's own libero, Alex Brehaut, was working hard to keep up with the Mountaineers and their ability to turn what seemed to be a sure Biola kill into a quick EOU counterattack. She ended the night with her new tournament-high, 22 digs.
 
Finally, it was a tremendous sprawling dig from Jaci Schork that setup a perfect strike for the Eagles' right side hitter, Crissy Cunningham, to finish off the fourth set and send Biola into Saturday play.
 
"It feels pretty good," said Cunningham. "Obviously we couldn't have done it without our defense, but it worked out awesome that I was able to get that. It was super exciting. It is such a great opportunity to make it back to the semifinals."
 
It was much of the same for Biola's attack as Amy Weststeyn, Joclyn Kirton and Alyssa Mason were 1-2-3 in kills for the Eagles. They had 12, 13 and 13 kills, respectively.
 
The Eagles ended with 12 total blocks, led by Weststeyn's 10 block assists and Kirton's solo block and five assists.
 
The Eagles improve to 32-4 and the Mountaineers end their season with a 30-6 mark.