Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The first game of the season never goes off completely without a hitch, but the No. 14 College of Idaho Yotes provided plenty of "hitches" for No. 2 Biola, which barely made it out alive with a 3-2 (19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-13) win to start the season.
 
The visiting team gave the Eagles all they could handle throughout the match, but especially in the first two sets as the Yotes established their presence on the court with fantastic defense and some clean finishing to take a two-set lead.
 
"First games are always a toss-up," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "They are very athletic and I think they outworked us defensively. Their libero was amazing."
 
Early on Biola could not catch a break with their attack, either hitting fingers at the net or finding the outstretched arms of CI's tumbling, acrobatic libero rather that hitting the ball into the hardwood.
 
The Eagles were out-killed 29-24 through their two losses in the opening sets. The Yotes were also vastly more effective when they were on the attack, hitting at a .344 clip in the first set and maintaining an attack percentage above .200 in set two. Biola failed to hit higher than .194 in either set.
 
Those numbers began to change in the third set when Biola had its back up against a wall facing a sweep in its first match as the No. 2 team in the country.
 
Set three changed hands multiple times until the Eagles went on a 9-5 run to open up a 17-13 lead and never trail again in the set. The senior leadership on the team stepped it up big-time in this critical third set, with Joclyn Kirton's kill, ace and three blocks making a massive difference.
 
Biola's blocks at the net caused a more timid College of Idaho attack throughout the rest of the set, helping Biola escape with its two-point win after CI hit just .043 in the frame.
 
"It took a long time to figure things out, but I'm excited by the way they stuck with it," said Seltzer. "I think it shows a lot of character. That's what we need to expect with seven seniors."
 
Playing with their newfound confidence, the Eagles controlled set four straight from the start, taking a quick 6-1 lead. The lead was built by a few kills, but also a lot of errors from the Yotes, including two attack errors and a service errors.

The mental lapses from College of Idaho began to build as the match went along, making it clear that Biola's experience and skill were starting to carry them through as the teams continued with long rally after long rally.
 
Biola kept the Yotes from siding out easily in the fourth set, riding four different three-serve or more streaks en route to the 25-20 win forcing the fifth set.
 
Coming off a year where it went just 3-4 in five-match sets, Biola was looking to get off to a better start in that category in 2015.
 
During the fifth set the two teams stayed within two points of each other from start to finish, but Biola never trailed, ultimately winning 15-13 after one College of Idaho's hitters doubled. It was one of just two ball-handling errors in the match.
 
Britta Blaser led Biola with 15 kills and 40 attacks. She limited herself to six errors, hitting .225. Freshman Karly Dantuma also had a standout performance with 10 kills in her first match in red and black.
 
"Our freshmen played awesome. It didn't even feel like they were freshman," said Seltzer. "And, Britta was a monster."
 
Tess Van Grouw had to go toe-to-toe with a CI libero that raked in 30 kills and offered a plethora of attacking opportunities to the Yotes. The Eagles' libero handled herself nicely as Seltzer moved her all over the back row, collecting a team-high 17 digs with just one receiving error.
 
The Eagles improve to 1-0 on the year and drop the Yotes to 0-1. Biola faces No. 5 Rocky Mountain in a match that's scheduled to start 6 p.m.