HAYWARD, Calif. --- Five matches in four days is tough. Add to that 100+ degree temperatures and the fact that four of those five matches went five sets and that's even tougher. On top of all that a travel day sandwiched in between?
 
Biola Volleyball did a fabulous job representing Biola and the PacWest Conference on opening weekend despite ending with a sour five-set loss (22-25, 18-25, 25-20, 26-24, 9-15) at CSU East Bay.

"It was a really good weekend for us," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "We wanted to get better and this weekend we got a lot, a lot better. I am super proud."
 
The Eagles, for the second time today, found themselves down two sets to none right away against the hosting Pioneers. However, once again, Head Coach Aaron Seltzer's team found a way to scrounge up all they had and win the next two sets to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Unfortunately, the tank ran empty late in that final set, Biola's 19^th of the weekend, and East Bay managed a 15-9 set win to seal the match. The win improves the Pioneers to 3-1 on the season, which matches what Biola now sits at.
 
There was a whole lot to like about the match, despite the outcome not being exactly what we were all pulling for. The most notable positive is that once again this team demonstrated just how remarkably deep it is. Players like Savannah Hilde, Karly Dantuma and Brinley Beresford stole the show with some great individual performances.
 
Biola had a hard time hitting around CSU East Bay's block for much of the night, so the ability to have the Eagles' setters find creative ways to run the offense through a number of different players is what really helped the Eagles force their way to a full match.
 
Beresford recorded 33 assists in the match, which is her second-highest total on the season. The only time she went higher was in this weekend's opener, when she was the only setter used in the match. Tonight she was even more effective because she had the setter's dump working from the get go. Beresford ended up with four kills, which also goes down as her second-best output of the year. Last season she never had more than three kills in a match.
 
Hilde ended up with a season-best six kills on 25 attack attempts. She was one of the best pleasant surprises of the match and is the biggest reason the Eagles were able to squeak out a win in set three to begin a comeback attempt. All six of her kills came in that third set.
 
The fourth set was about as gripping as a volleyball game can get. The two teams traded the lead 29 times throughout and Biola managed to defend a CSUEB match point before winning the final two rallies to secure a 26-24 set win.
 
Dantuma landed one of her 13 kills to tie the set at 24 and then it was two Christina DenBoer hammer drops that won the set for BU. DenBoer finished the weekend with four double doubles by accumulating 19 kills and 13 digs in this one.
 
The fifth set was a rough one for Biola. CSUEB had its attack clicking early on and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Eagles would get as close as 9-10, but a flurry of kills and Biola errors gave the Pioneers the final five points and the win.
 
Biola heads back up to the Bay Area next weekend for the annual PacWest/GNAC Crossover tournament at San Francisco State. The Eagles' first matchup is on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. They face San Francisco State, a team they beat in five sets yesterday.