LA MIRADA, Calif. --- For the first time in six years Biola Volleyball hosted former NAIA heavyweight Fresno Pacific in a PacWest Conference matchup on Friday night. The Eagles had no problem with the Sunbirds and won 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 27-25) to keep themselves in second place in the conference.

"Tonight blocking was the key," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "We defend well and block well. We did that tonight and that was the difference. We were average offensively tonight, but they find a way to win."

Fresno Pacific had its best set of the match in the first game. They had 14 kills and hit a match-high .186, while Head Coach Aaron Seltzer's team had its worst set of the match with a .146 hitting percentage.

The Eagles successfully defended two set points to make the game close at 24-22, but then a kill from Malerie Crenshaw ended the set at 25-22 in favor of the Sunbirds. Crenshaw had five kills in the first and ended the match with 13.

Biola bounced back and was dominant in sets two and three before the two teams battled to another tight finish in the fourth.

The longest rally of the season came on Biola's first match point opportunity at 24-23, but it went in favor of FPU to send the fourth set into extra points. FPU won the first chance and had a set point of their own, but then a kill by Karly Dantuma, kill by Sierra Bauder and a block by the two of them ended the set 27-25 in favor of the Eagles and closed out the match.

The Eagles' block was a lethal weapon this evening. They had 13 compared to FPU's six. No surprise, but it was the players in the front middle that did most of the damage. Bauder led with seven blocks, Bekah Roth had six and Brinley Beresford matched her season-high with four.

It was those blocks that made the biggest difference as the two offenses were pretty close to identical and the Fresno Pacific back row was outstanding, especially late in the fourth set.

Karly Dantuma led Biola's attack by a wide margin with 18. She hit just five errant attacks in 47 swings to be second on the team with a .277 hitting percentage. Dantuma also had an effective blocking night, getting in on four. Sierra Bauder led the hitting percentage effort, hitting .435 on her 12 kills.

Sami Hover was the best defender on the floor tonight for either team. She ended up with 19 digs and zero errors. The dig total was just two off her season-high.

The win pushes the Eagles to 21-7 (14-5 PacWest) and drops the Sunbirds to 12-16 (10-9 PacWest). The team has its final regular season match at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday when they host Dixie State (13-14, 11-8 PacWest). Biola beat DSU in three sets out in Utah earlier this year.

Following the match the team will have its senior night ceremony to honor Tess Van Grouw, Ally Forsberg and Alli Beezer.

"I love all our seniors and the way they lead this team," said Seltzer. "They all inject something to the team and they're doing a great job."