IRVINE, Calif. --- Biola opened up the Concordia University Labor Day Festival with a pair of victories, sweeping the University of Great Falls (Mont.) in the opener, then rallied to defeat Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) in five sets on Friday afternoon in Irvine.

The Eagles, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA preseason poll, improve to 6-2 with the victories while dropping Great Falls to 3-6 and handing Rocky Mountain its first loss in 10 matches.

Biola's opened the day with 25-16, 25-19, 25-18 over Great Falls, then squeaked out a 20-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13 win over Rocky Mountain.

Sophomore outside hitter Christine Douglas led the way with 34 kills in the two matches while senior Tavea Hampton added 18 kills and 11 blocks on the day.

The second match was a thriller and the fourth five-set match the Eagles have played in the last five matches. Biola got off to a slow start, falling behind 9-6 early in the first set. After rallying to tie the set at 16-16, the Eagles fell apart and Rocky Mountain used a 6-0 run to break the set open and would cruise to a 25-20 win. Biola didn't help itself out, committing five service errors despite hitting .333 in the set.

The second set was much more to the Eagles' liking as they jumped out a quick 8-4 lead and never looked back. Biola hit .406 in the second set and allowed just three real points in the set thanks to an 80% sideout percentage.

The Eagles fought back from an early hole to take a 13-9 lead midway through the third set. They still led by a 20-17 count and looked to be poised to take the lead in the set. However, Rocky Mountain used a 6-1 run to take a commanding 23-21 advantage. Biola tied the score with a kill from Kim Russell and a block by Hampton and Nicolette Mather, only to see Rocky Mountain score the final two points on kills to take the 2-1 lead.

Biola once again had an easy time in the fourth set, jumping out to an 11-4 lead and cruising to a 25-19 victory to tie the set at 2-2. 

In the fifth set, the Eagles took control early scoring eight of the first 10 points before the change over. Biola continued to roll and looked ready to wrap things up quickly leading 10-4. However, Rocky Mountain wasn't quite done and put together a 9-2 run to pull within one at 14-13. But Douglas recorded her 20th kill of the match on the next point to seal the victory for the Eagles.

Biola dominated the match in nearly every statistical category including out-hitting the Grizzlies .303 to .221 and out-blocking them 12.5 to 6.

Hampton had a banner match, recording 14 kills and no errors in 21 swings for an impressive .667 attack percentage, adding five blocks and a dig. fellow middle blocker Rachel Buckley recorded a match-high six block and contributed eight kills.

Biola had little trouble in its first match, posting a .368 attack percentage while holding Great Falls to a .144 mark.

The third set was the closest with the teams exchanging points through the first half before the Eagles slowly pulled away. Trailing 15-14, Biola rattled off a quick four-point run then added three-straight after a sideout to go up 20-16. From there, the Eagles outscored Great Falls 5-2 to wrap up the match.

Douglas recorded a match-high 14 kills in that set with Hampton adding six blocks and four kills. 

Biola closes out the two-day festival with a pair of tough matches on Saturday, facing Westminster College (Utah) at 1:00 p.m. before wrapping things up with a match against NCAA Division II Colorado Christian University at 5:00 p.m.