SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- After an epic battle earlier in the day, Biola had little left for its Quarterfinal match against No. 2 Texas-Brownsville, falling 25-17, 25-16, 25-21 on Friday night in the NAIA National Tournament Quarterfinals at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.
The Eagles end their impressive season with a 28-10 overall record after reaching the NAIA Quarterfinals for the ninth time in 10 tournament appearances. The Scorpions improve to 38-1 and advance to the semifinals to face GSAC champion Fresno Pacific.
Sophomore outside hitter
Christine Douglas recovered from a slow start in the match to finish with 11 kills, recording nine of Biola's 13 kills in the final set.
The match was a tough one for Biola, especially in the first two sets as the Eagles hit negative while Texas-Brownsville recorded 10 blocks.
in the first set, Biola hung with the Scorpions early, holding an 8-7 lead before UTB came alive and used a 10-2 run to go up 17-10. Biola closed the gap with a quick four-point run but would get no closer as the Scorpions answered right back by scoring seven of the next nine points and cruised to the win.
The Eagles again kept things close to start the second set, overcoming an early 10-7 deficit with three-straight points to tie the score. But the Scorpions would go on a long 14-5 run to take command of the set as Biola was unable to string consecutive points together the rest of the way.
The third set was a thriller as Biola started to figure out Brownsville. The Eagles jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead, but the Scorpions would again answer with a run and eventually took their first lead at 12-11. From there neither team took a lead of more than one until the end of the set. Tied at 21-21, Brownsville scored the final four points, two on kills by Danica Markovic and one final kill by Talita Milasauskas for the victory.
Biola wound up with a .019 attack percentage, needing to hit .290 in the final set to finish in the positive. The Scorpions hit .206 in the match but didn't get over. 200 until the final set either.
Markovic led Texas-Brownsville with 11 kills on the night with Milasauskas adding nine.
