LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola recovered from a poor start to the match to rally and take the third set after dropping the first two, but was unable to keep the momentum going, falling 25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 to No. 1 Fresno Pacific in a GSAC match on Tuesday night.

The loss drops the ninth-ranked Eagles to 9-4 on the season and to 2-1 in conference play while the Sunbirds improve to 11-0, 3-0 in the GSAC.

Sophomore Christine Douglas led the attack for Biola with a team-high 11 kills while senior middle blocker Tavea Hampton added seven kills and five blocks for the Eagles.

The match started out bad for Biola, which hit .000 in the first set and was never really in it. Fresno Pacific opened up with a 9-5 lead thanks in large part to three-straight aces by Martina Gregusova. The Sunbirds would use a five-point run to build a 21-12 lead and hold off a late charge by the Eagles to win 25-18 in the first set.

The story was much the same in the second as Fresno Pacific went up 11-6 early on and steadily pulled away until Biola called a time out at 19-12. The teams would exchange points down the stretch and the Eagles would string together a few points near the end, but still fell 25-19.

After falling behind early in the third set, Biola changed things up a bit and brought in freshman Nicolette Douglas to serve, trailing 9-7. Douglas would serve five-straight points for the Eagles, who took an 11-9 lead near the midway point. But the Sunbirds rallied back and broke a 17-17 tie with a five-point run. But the Eagles weren't ready to quit yet. Still trailing 23-19, Douglas came to the rescue again, this time serving out a six-point run capped by an ace to give the Eagles a 25-23 win.

In the fourth, Biola kept things close throughout, but was not able to get a lead late. Biola trailed by just one at 15-14 after a big block by Hampton and freshman Tori Carroll. But Fresno Pacific got the ball back after a service error and extended the lead back to three on a kill by Gregusova.  The Eagles closed the gap to one at 20-19 late on a kill by Christine Douglas, but three quick points by Fresno Pacific put the game out of reach.

"Fresno Pacific is a very good team, but tonight they gave us a lot of chances and we couldn't take advantage," said head coach Aaron Seltzer. "We just needed to go out and compete, but we played a bit tentative and a little scared. If we had done that, I really feel like we could have pulled out a win tonight."

Gregusova led the Sunbirds with 15 kills while Keke Wang added 13. 

Biola surrendered nine aces on the night—six to Gregusova—and had nine service errors. The Eagles were also whistled for three blocking errors and committed at least six attack errors in each set.

Biola returns to action on Saturday (Sept. 18), traveling to Santa Clarita to take on The Master's College in a GSAC match. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.