Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. --- For the second day in a row No. 19 Biola Volleyball turns a challenging morning into an enjoyable evening with a convincing victory in its nightcap at the Hope International Labor Day Classic.
 
Biola beat UC Merced in straight sets (25-15, 25-12, 25-17) to cap off the weekend with a 3-1 record, including a three-set win, four-set win and five-set win along with a five-set loss.
 
"We responded the way we should respond when after we lost a match that we were really looking to win," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "I really liked the play of Ally Forsberg, Stephanie Jewett and Karly Dantuma."
 
Biola faced a UC Merced team that came into the day with a 2-5 overall record before suffering a 0-3 loss to The Master's University and another at the hands of the Eagles. It was a tough tournament for the Bobcats who lost all 12 sets they appeared in.
 
The Eagles were consistent in all aspects during this evening victory as they more than doubled the number of kills that their defense allowed and served the ball very, very well to finish with eight aces in just three sets. Kaitlin O'Brien led the way in that category with four in a great performance for the true freshman.
 
The Eagles' defense did a great job throughout the match to shut down the Bobcats' attack. Tess Van Grouw and her back row teammates held UC Merced to just 19 kills in 81 attack attempts and kept them to a .037 hitting percentage.
 
Van Grouw finished with 17 digs, putting her at 91 for the tournament. Houser was second with eight digs of her own and Brinley Beresford put forth another good showing for a setter with six digs to go along with a team-high 17 assists.
 
Biola was dominant from start to finish in this match. They never trailed in the second set, only trailed at 5-4 in the first set and 2-1 in the third set as they cruised to an eighth victory of 2016.
 
Biola's attack was a steady array of solid efforts as they hit well from both sides and in the middle. Forsberg led the team in kills with 10 and hit .400. Dantuma upped her season hitting percentage to .237 with another fantastic effort with eight kills and a .467 attack percentage. Then Jewett continued her hot stretch of play with an eight kill, .211 performance.

"That group did really, really good," said Seltzer. "They played with a lot of energy and performed well. I think Ally did an especially good job of being very active and quick to anchor the middle.
 
This was the final preseason action for the Eagles (8-5) who move into conference play on Tuesday as they play against tournament host Hope International in Fullerton at 7:00 p.m.