Box Score IRVINE, Calif. --- Each week the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics posts three options for their national volleyball match of the week. Sometimes the winning matches live up to the hype and sometimes they do not. Tonight, inside CU arena, the No. 3 Eagles battle with No. 1 Concordia lived up to the hype.
 
Both teams entered play a perfect 15-0 and both sat ties atop the conference with a 6-0 Golden State Athletic Conference record. Concordia has been in the NAIA top 25 for the past 91 polls, and BU has been ranked in the previous 90, it was a true clash of the titans.
 
After a grueling two hour and four minute match, Concordia came out victorious in the four-set thriller, handing BU its first loss of the year (23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 22-25).
 
Blocking and attack accuracy made all the difference in the world tonight in a match where there was so little separating these two squads. CUI was able to outblock Biola 11-8, and they also outhit the Eagles with a .252 clip as opposed to BU's .176 mark.
 
BU's attack had some problems finding the floor tonight, with their 25 attack errors being the most they've registered since their second match of the year. They suffered some errors at the server's spot too, adding five.
 
Biola did tie for its fifth highest output of kills on the year, picking up 51, but surrendered 60 to Concordia, the most of any opponent this season.
 
Joclyn Kirton did lead the Eagles for the third consecutive match, picking up 12 kills and passing Amy Weststeyn for second most on the squad this season. Weststeyn, Alyssa Mason and Chelsee Arnitz each added 10-plus kills and Gracee Gallarda tied her third-highest assist output with 42 in the BU loss.
 
Maddy Ekis led all players with 14 kills, but hit just .143 as she racked up eight errors on 42 attacks.
 
Concordia came out early at home and asserted their dominance by going up 5-0 in the first set. After Head Coach Aaron Seltzer called a timeout the BU squad put things back together and outscored CUI 7-4 over the next 11 points.
 
After a lot of back and forth, CUI was able to seal the first set by winning three straight points to end the set.
 
Biola dominated straight through the second set, proving that they were not going to roll over after a difficult first set setback. The Eagles his .316 and picked up 15 kills, both match highs as they led the second set almost all the way through.
 
A key cog in BU's ability to push ahead in the second set and come back in the other sets was Tara Rallis' ability to save the ball of big hits by the CUI attackers. The senior libero walked away with 21 digs on the evening, her second-highest total of they year.
 
Even when not successfully digging the ball she could be seen diving all over the court doing everything she could to help her team's cause. That same thing could be said for the entire BU squad on Saturday as they each gave every ounce of effort on the court despite trailing through most of the match.
 
They found themselves ahead in set three, sitting up 16-12 at one point, but eventually fell to CUI a few attack errors and a service ace by CUI moved Concordia ahead.
 
Set four was another tight one that nearly saw a BU comeback very late, but eventually went the way of Concordia as they pushed their undefeated streak to 54 straight games, including last season's national championship.
 
Biola has a tough week ahead as the Eagles travel to Texas to take on No. 2 Texas-Brownsville and No. 22 Columbia on Friday and Saturday. These two squads, BU and CUI made up the final four teams in last season's NAIA volleyball championship tournament.