Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Fresh off five long, drawn out and emotional back-to-back sets with No. 6 Midland No.19 Biola Volleyball was eager for a quick match. The Eagles elevated their game to an appropriate level to achieve just that as they managed a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-19, 26-24) over No. 4 Viterbo.
 
The V-Hawks were the highest ranked opponent Biola had to face during its four matches at this year's Biola Volleyball/Red Lion-Anaheim Summer Slam. The Eagles came into the match with a 1-2 mark through its first three games at the tournament, which were against No. 15, No. 8 and No. 6.
 
"I think this win was really a carry over of determination from the Midland match that we played really well in," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "It also showed the tremendous growth we had this week. We really noticed that we got better and better with each match we played."
 
The Eagles set the tone early in the match as they broke a 6-6 tie in the first set with a pair of Brooke Watts kills sandwiched around a Tess Van Grouw service ace. That three-point tilt was the first significant run of points from either side during the first set.
 
Another three-point run came at the end of the set as BU won points 20, 21 and 22 to turn a two-point deficit into a lead that would carry until Ally Forsberg and Olivia Sorensen combined for a block that won the set for Biola on its first set point.
 
Karly Dantuma had a huge first set and was critical in the Eagles' turnaround attempt at the end. She was a part of four of Biola's final five points in the set with three kills and paired with Hannah van Warmerdam on a block. She had seven kills on 10 swings with zero attack errors in what was her best set of the season so far.
 
In set two the Eagles won 11 of the first 15 points to build a huge advantage that would carry them to a 2-0 advantage in the match. Viterbo had just eight kills on .034 hitting in the second set while Biola's passing remained crisp and attacking continued to find the holes in the floor.
 
The third set was the true highlight of the match though as the Eagles fought back from being down by margins of 7-1, 18-11 and 20-14 to ultimately walk away with a brilliant 26-24 win to secure the sweep.
 
Midway through the set Biola found a way to sideout at an incredible rate. The Eagles won the point on each of the final seven first serve chances that Viterbo had, which helped the game move from 17-10 to the way it finished.   
 
It was a true team effort to comeback from the major deficit in the third set as there were aces from Kaitlin O'Brien and Anna Houser, kills from Dantuma, Sierra Bauder, van Warmerdam and Watts and a handful of blocks by the Eagles' front line.
 
The match was clinched by four consecutive Biola points, with the streak ending as one of Viterbo's best attackers struck one right into the net.
 
"It's a great group of girls. They are so coachable and every single one of them played well tonight," said Seltzer. "Kaitlin played the best match of her young career for sure. Both our outsides, Brooke and Hannah, played out of their minds and Ally Forsberg was really, really good."
 
With all of the great attack numbers it can be easy to miss that the MVP of the match has to be the collective efforts of the Eagles' back row. They held this Viterbo team to single-digit kills in two of the three sets and allowed just 11 in the other. Van Grouw led the way with another strong individual effort where she wrapped up 17 digs. O'Brien also reached double digits with 10.
 
"There is a lot of potential here," said Seltzer. "We played the toughest schedule in this tournament and were forced to play at a high level. It made us really have to figure out how to work things out. To win in three and have that kind of a comeback in game three says a lot about the potential here."
 
Biola becomes 2-2 against ranked opponents, finishes the Summer Slam with a 2-2 mark and improves to 3-2 overall. It will face another Summer Slam opponent in its next match as Southern Oregon visits for a 5:00 p.m. match on Tuesday.