BELMONT, Calif. --- Biola Volleyball's second match of the opening day of the 2017 season had a distinctly different feel than the match earlier in the day. Instead of five closely-contested sets that had Eagles fans on the edge of their seat throughout, Biola turned it into high gear in set three and dominated a four-set (26-24, 24-26, 25-14, 25-13) win over San Francisco State.
 
Biola improves to 2-0 on the season with the second win of the day and is now 2-0 against California Collegiate Athletic Association schools as a member of the PacWest.

"We needed a win," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "If we lost, they (SFSU) would've had wins over three of our conference teams. It's good to beat the teams from the other conference."
 
The match outcome could have been considerably different if a few rallies bounced the other way late in the first set. After allowing five of the first six rallies of the set to go in favor of SFSU the Eagles trailed the entire way until finally able to rattle off seven of the final nine points to secure the set 26-24.
 
Had that set gone the other way Biola would've potentially been staring at an 0-2 disadvantage in the match, which would've made it hard to put out the incredible third and fourth set performances we saw.
 
Set three began just as competitive as the first two, sitting at 5-5 after 10 rallies, but then a streak of five consecutive points with no SFSU side out helped the Eagles establish momentum in the set.
 
Christina DenBoer and Sierra Bauder played a key role in that streak of points and were once again phenomenal throughout the match. They combined for 26 kills (18/8) and were altogether credited for 19 blocks (6/13).
 
Meanwhile, on the other side of the net San Francisco's attackers were having a very hard time finding the hardwood after a pair of .270+ hitting performances in the first two sets. The Gators hit -.054 in the third and -.051 in the fourth. Ultimately, Biola outhit SFSU by nearly .200 points for the match (.320 - .123).
 
The Eagles never once trailed in the fourth set as they clinched the match with what was their best attacking set of the day (12 kills to just one error). Five Biolans had eight kills or more in the nightcap, including eight kills on just 13 swings by Karly Dantuma, 2016's leading attacker.

"All of a sudden it was like the whole tide changed. We just woke up and started bombing balls all over the place," said Seltzer.
 
Biola ended the match with 10 service aces and 16 blocks. It's the first time since a win over Arizona Christian on Oct. 14, 2016 the team has registered double-digits in both those categories.
 
Freshman Bekah Roth continued to impress, leading the team with four aces while piling on eight kills, two digs and three blocks.

Another freshman, Vanessa Garcia, got to see some time in the nightcap after missing out in the morning. She took over at setter for Brinley Beresford partway through the second set and came away with a team-high 23 assists and also added a kill. She was so sharp right from when she first entered, which was a big reason the Eagles turned things around in set three.

"Vanessa just rocked it," said Seltzer. "She came in, settled everybody down and just rocked it. She took over the match and ran the offense so well. It was like she was a seasoned vet."
 
The Eagles' back row was once again solid in defending just about everything the waning Gators hit at them over the course of the final two sets. Senior Tess Van Grouw led all players with 17 digs. She's now up to 1,160 over the course of her impressive four-year career.
 
The Eagles move to 2-0, while the Gators fall to 2-1 in the very early stages of 2017. Biola is back at it tomorrow during day two of the Route 92 Volleyball Tournament. The Eagles have a pair of contests at CSU East Bay, beginning with a 9:00 a.m. date with Chico State (3-0). The Wildcats have a trio of 3-0 wins under their belt to start the year. Follow the action live at http://www.sidearmstats.com/csueastbay/wvball/