Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It was quite the battle inside of Chase Gymnasium on Tuesday night as No. 1 Biola took a win over No. 16 Westmont in a five-set battle (25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9) between two top-25 NAIA Volleyball powerhouses.
 
It was a night of firsts for both sides as Biola dropped a set for the first time since Aug. 21 and Westmont suffered a loss for the first time since that very same date. All three of the Warriors losses this season have come inside of Chase Gymnasium.
 
It was also the first time this season that Biola's attack has been led by its freshmen outside hitters. Karly Dantuma and Christina DenBoer have been putting out fantastic performances all season long, but tonight was the night that they turned it up a notch, proving they can play under pressure. DenBoer piled on 19 kills to lead all attackers and Dantuma had 10 with a majority of them coming in key moments of the latter sets.
 
"Tonight was the night our freshmen really showed up," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "They played so well and had such composure it was like they were seasoned veterans."
 
The match was a classic Biola vs. Westmont battle with Biola's offensive overload going toe-to-toe with one of the best defensively minded teams in the nation. Add to that a trio of fantastic attackers on the Westmont side and you've got yourself a true barnburner.
 
Every set was dripping with drama as the two teams seesawed their way through the first four sets in a split. As close as each set was the team that was clearly the best team throughout each set ended up getting the win, so the match kind of went as scripted.
 
The most crucial set was the third, when Biola came back from trailing as late as 21-19 to end up with the 25-22 victory. After a Britta Blaser attack error made it that 21-19 score three kills from DenBoer and two Westmont attack errors helped Biola charge out in front and get a set point at 24-21.
 
That was the moment that everyone took notice of how much DenBoer was simply going off in this one. She almost single-handedly brought Biola back from dead in that third set, which wound up being critical in this five-setter.
 
The Eagles fell behind early again in set no. 4, but they rattled of a stretch where they earned 10 of 13 points in order to stake a 19-17 lead and seem poised to close out the match in four.
 
That would not be the case as Westmont went the rest of the set without just one more attack error while the Eagles hit a low .188 in the set and saw the match slip out of their grasp at 23-25.
 
Chase Gymnasium was roaring with nervous excitement headed into a fifth set that was all-important if Biola were to maintain its undefeated record and No. 1 standing. The biggest concern headed into the set was the physical condition of the team since the Eagles haven't played a match longer than an hour and 17 minutes since Sept. 4 and this one was approaching two hours.
 
Those concerns were swiftly swept under the carpet as a rotation of sets from DenBoer to Dantuma to Kirton and Hoenecke kept Biola's attack rolling on all cylinders late into the match. 
 
The Eagles hit a match-best .400 in the final set and got 10 of their 15 match-winning points by way of kills. This is where Dantuma showed up the most with three kills and two blocks.

"Westmont is a great team," said Seltzer. "Every year you can expect them to be so good, which means they make you work for everything you can get. Tonight was no different. They made us work hard and that work ended up in a win."
 
Biola was the better blocking team throughout the evening and ended up 13 blocks, which is second only to the 14 they had in the very first match of the year.
 
Strong performances from Tess Van Grouw, Crissy Cunningham and Alex Brehaut in the back row helped Biola compete with the fantastic defense of Westmont. The trio combined for 40 digs and both Van Grouw and Brehaut saw some time at libero.
 
The Eagles ended up with five hitters in double-digit kill territory as Kirton (18) and Hoenecke (10) joined the freshmen. It is Kirton's second 18-kill outing in a row.
 
Biola moves to 13-0 (5-0 GSAC) with the victory and Westmont falls to 11-3 (4-1 GSAC) with the loss. The Eagles are back at home for another tough GSAC matchup this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. when they host No. 25 The Master's College.