LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola University will open the doors to Chase Gymnasium and welcome a number of the NAIA's elite volleyball programs this week as part of the 2012 Biola University/Red Lion Hotel-Anaheim Summer Slam on Thursday and Friday, August 23-24.

The Eagles, ranked No. 5 in the NAIA Preseason Poll, host the Summer Slam tournament for the second-straight year, expanding the field from nine teams last year to 13. Of those 13 teams, nine of them appeared in the 2011 NAIA National tournament with seven of them finishing the season in the NAIA Top 15.

Those teams are with their final 2011 NAIA Postseason Ranking: #2 Concordia University (Calif.); #5 Biola; #7 College of Idaho; #9 Rocky Mountain College (Mont.); #10 Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho); #11 Southern Oregon University; #14 Vanguard University.

Cal State San Marcos and Westmont College were not ranked in the final poll last year, but are ranked No. 23 and No. 24 in the preseason poll this year. Concordia University (Ore.), Midland University (Neb.), The Master's College and William Jessup University round out the field.

Biola might have the toughest schedule of any of the teams in the field, taking on three of those Top 10 teams over the course of the two-day tournament. The Eagles open against Rocky Mountain College at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and face College of Idaho at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Biola takes on Lewis-Clark State at 4:30 p.m. before closing out the tournament against William Jessup University at 8:30 p.m.

A total of 26 matches will be contested during the two-day tournament. Two courts will be set up in Chase Gymnasium with matches starting every two hours beginning at 8:30 a.m. and running through 8:30 p.m.

Live stats and streaming video will be available for each match, courtesy of the Biola University Sports Information Office and Stretch Internet. Links and a complete schedule are available on the Summer Slam website.