LA MIRADA, Calif. --- After a rocky first set, Biola came alive in the second and cruised to easy wins in the final two sets to pull of a 22-25, 25-22, 25-11, 25-16 upset win over No. 9 Point Loma Nazarene University in a GSAC match on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles, ranked No 15 in the latest NAIA National Poll, snap a three-match losing streak and improve to 16-7 on the season and to 4-3 in GSAC play. The Sea Lions drop to 11-4 and to 3-4 in the conference.

Christine Douglas led the Biola offense with 20 kills and posted a .410 attack percentage in the match. Sarah McAtee added 12 kills while Rachel Buckley contributed eight kills and eight blocks in the winning effort. 

Biola got off to a slow start in the contest. Despite opening a 7-4 lead in the early-going, the Eagles allowed Point Loma to rattle off a 12-4 run to open up a 16-11 advantage. Biola worked back into the set with an 8-1 run aided by four Sea Lion errors and a pair of aces to go up 19-17. But the Sea Lions scored four straight points to go back up by two. Biola would tie the set again at 22-22 only to see NAIA All-American Tabitha Henken take over with three-straight kills to give the Sea Lions the set.

After an even start to the second set, Biola slowly pulled away with an extended 14-5 run to take a commanding 19-11 lead. However, solid serving by Kelsey Barker confounded the Eagles' defense and allowed Point Loma to claw back into the contest as the Sea Lions went on a 8-2 run which included five-straight points on Barker serves. But the Eagles were able to exchange point the rest of the way and took the set on a kill by Douglas.

From there, the match belonged to the Eagles, who jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the third set and never turned back. The Eagles would not allow the Sea Lions any breathing room, holding the pedal down and cruising to the 25-11 win. Biola commimtted just two errors in the set and allowed PLNU back-to-back points just twice.

The Sea Lions made one final push in the fourth set, jumping out to a 7-4 lead in the early going. But Biola fought back to tie the score at 9-9 and exchanged points with PLNU for the next little bit. The Sea Lions led 13-12 when the Eagles pulled away one final time, closing out the match by scoring 13 of the final 16 points for the victory.

Biola played fantastic defense in the match, recording 68 digs and 11 blocks. Emily Weingartner had 18 digs while Joy Talcot added 13. Senior defensive specialist Christian Woodruff was instrumental in the final two sets, recording 10 digs and an ace for the Eagles.

Henken led the Sea Lions with 15 kills while Alyssa Dwyer added 13 kills and five blocks.

The Eagles look to keep the momentum going on Saturday, traveling to San Diego Christian College for a GSAC match at 7:00 p.m.