BOX SCORE

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- A trio of seniors made their Senior Night one to remember, leading No. 10 Biola to a 25-15, 21-25, 30-28, 25-22 GSAC victory over No. 15 Point Loma Nazarene in the final match of the regular season on Saturday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles wrap up the regular season campaign with a 22-9 overall record and finish tied for fourth in the GSAC with a 13-7 conference mark. The Sea Lions fall to 19-11 and 9-11 in the GSAC. Both teams received at-large berths in the 2009 NAIA National Tournament field which was announced after the match.

Biola had three seniors playing in their final home match of their careers and each one had a strong performance. Middle blocker Kelsey Christoferson had a team-high 13 kills with just one error in 30 swings, posting an impressive .400 attack percentage and adding three blocks including one solo. Right side hitter Meghan Cunningham had one of the best matches of the season, recording nine kills and adding six blocks. Libero Katie Stevens continued to dominate defensively, recording a match-high 23 digs to give her 494 on the season. It was the sixth-consecutive match in which she has recorded at least 19 digs.

The Eagles got off to a strong start in the match, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first set and cruising to an easy 25-15 win. Biola seemed unable to do any wrong, committing just one hitting error which came on a PLNU block late in the set.

In the second set, the Eagles opened with six hitting errors and just three kills. But the Sea Lions also struggled early and the teams remained close through the first half of the set. Point Loma broke away with a 6-0 run to break a 13-13 tie. Biola closed the gap to two at 19-17 and still trailed by two at 23-21 just a few minutes later. Alyssa Pitkin then closed out the set with back-to-back kills to give the Sea Lions the second game 25-21.

Point Loma kept the momentum going and opened up a 17-12 lead midway through the third set. After a time out, the Eagles came back strong, using a 7-1 run to take their first lead of the set at 19-18. The two teams then battled back and forth with Biola seeming to take control late with a three-point run to set up game point at 24-22. The Sea Lions came back with two points to knot the score at 24-24 and the see-saw was fired up again. With the score tied at 28-28, Biola finally put the set away with a kill by Tavea Hampton followed by a block by Hampton and Cunningham to win 30-28.

The Eagles again fell behind early in the fourth set, trailing 9-5 after an early timeout and still finding themselves down 13-10 a bit later. Biola took its first lead of the set at 15-14 on a Point Loma attack error and the team exchanged points over the next little bit. With the score tied at 20-20, Biola strung a pair of points together on a kill by Russell and block by Russell and Hampton. Moments later, another block by Hampton and Cunningham gave the Eagles match-point, which they cashed in two points later on a kill by Hampton.

Russell finished the match with 11 kills for Biola, the sixth-straight match in which she has posted at least nine kills, and added three blocks. The Eagles played fantastic defense, recording 11 blocks and 79 digs. The Biola dig total was a season-high for a four-set match.

Maddie Dahms led the Sea Lions with a match-high 19 kills with Tabitha Henken, who leads the NAIA with a 4.75 kills per set average, adding 15.

Biola now awaits word on seeding for the NAIA National Tournament. The Eagles likely will receive a first-round bye as one of the top 11 teams in the NAIA. The 36-team tournament begins Nov. 21 with 12 Opening-Round matches. The winners of those matches join the top 11 teams and the host team at the location of the NAIA National Championship final site. The 30th annual NAIA Volleyball Championship runs Dec. 1-5 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. First Round match-ups will be announced by the NAIA on Sunday.

The Eagles will be making their third-straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament and ninth trip overall. Biola is 34-16 all-time at the NAIA Tournament and has reached at least the quarterfinals in each of its previous eight trips.