LA MIRADA, Calif. --- What an exciting final few weeks we are in for with this Biola Volleyball team. The Eagles did the near-impossible last week by becoming the first PacWest volleyball team to go 3-0 on the Hawaiian road trip this year. That stunning success (only two set losses) sets Biola up as just one game back in the loss column from the conference-leading Azusa Pacific Cougars. This week is important as Biola faces a pair of teams who are under .500 in conference and needs to find a way to get two wins to keep pace.

LAST WEEK: W vs Chaminade, 3-1; W vs Hawaii Pacific,  3-0; W vs. Hawaii Hilo, 3-1 (3-0 weekly record; 16-5 overall record; 12-2 PacWest, second place)

THIS WEEK: vs Notre Dame de Namur (6-14, 5-7 PacWest) - Friday Oct. 19 at 6:00 p.m.; at Concordia Irvine (7-15, 6-8 PacWest) - Saturday Oct. 20 at 5:00 p.m.

MULTIMEDIA: Both matches will be live streamed and have live statistics available. Both Biola and Concordia offer free live streams and free live statistics. See the links below to access those.

TICKETS: Biola home events are always free to Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni. Children 12 and under are also always free. General admission is $6 and discounted tickets for opposing school students, guests under 18 and seniors are $4. For away game ticket information, see the note below each preview.

BIOLA (16-5, 12-2) vs. NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR (6-14, 5-7): Friday Oct. 19 at 6:00 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
This is the first meeting of the year between Biola and the Argos. NDNU is the only conference team BU has not faced yet this season. The Eagles and Argos played just once last season, with Biola earning a 3-1 victory on the road. That match was actually very competitive, with Biola riding a 27-25 win in the first set (where BU hit .357 and tallied an incredible 21 kills) to the four-game victory. That was the 11th meeting all-time between these two sides, with Biola holding a perfect 11-0 record. NDNU will play the Eagles as match number two of a quick turnaround road trip before they enter a five-match homestand. The Argos play at Concordia Irvine on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and then have less than 24 hours to turn around for this one. Notre Dame de namur is in the bottom third of the conference in all major statistical categories, except digs, where it holds the conference lead with 1,359 (18.12/set). Their per-set digs number is almost two full digs higher than any other school in the conference and is in the top-40 in all of NCAA Division II. This means you can expect a lot of swings from Biola and the potential for some long rallies. The Eagles will have to be disciplined to avoid unforced errors against the scrappy Argos. Sophomore Taylor Garcia leads that charge for NDNU as she's tops in the conference in digs with 395 (5.27/set). She's one of three players in the conference to be top-50 in NCAA Division II in a stat category. Sierra Bauder is one of those players, second in the nation in hitting percentage. After Friday's match, Biola will have just three home contests left in 2018, including next week's Chick-Fil-A giveaway against Point Loma.

BIOLA (16-5, 12-2) vs. CONCORDIA IRVINE (7-15, 6-8): Saturday Oct. 20 at 5:00 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video \\ Previous Meeting: Biola wins 3-0
For the second time this year there will be some Eagles vs. Eagles action. This time the series shifts to Irvine, where CU Arena will host Biola Volleyball for the second time in the BU NCAA Division II era. The last time these two teams met at Concordia was Biola's first-ever PacWest Conference competition (in any sport). It was also Concordia's first PacWest competition as full members of NCAA Division II. It was an instant classic as the two sides battled in front of a packed house and played five sets, with Biola eventually ending up victorious thanks to a 15-12 set five win. Sami Hover and Tess Van Grouw combined for 51 digs that evening with Savannah Hilde chipping in 18 of her own as BU accumulated 96 on the night. That's the most digs this Biola team has had in a match since preseason in 2016 when they had 100 in a loss to Grand View. Biola would hope to not need 100 digs to win the match this time around, coming off its 3-0 win vs. CUI from earlier in the year. Both teams made the Hawaii trip last week, with Biola going 3-0 to extend its winning streak to eight matches and Concordia going 0-3 (winning just two sets) to start a new losing streak. Concordia will host NDNU on Thursday night before turning around to host Biola Saturday. This young Concordia team shows flashes of greatness, leading the conference in aces and sitting top-4 in both blocks and fewest blocks against. They are third from the bottom though when it comes to opponent's hitting percentage (.229), which favors Biola, a very economical team. Biola is 42-20 all-time against Concordia, including wins in the last four meetings.

TICKETS - Concordia Irvine charges $7 general admission. It is $5 for visiting students and seniors (60+). Children 12 and under are free.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: Biola continues to ride high, winning eight consecutive conference matches now, the second-longest streak to happen in conference play this year (APU won nine in a row, until we beat them). The Eagles needed all three wins to keep pace with the Cougars who had a full week of rest before cruising to a pair of 3-0 wins against two of the NorCal schools. Biola only dropped two games all week (9-2) to improve to 12-2 in conference play. The Eagles are now just three wins off of last season's conference win total with eight matches still to play. Five of the Eagles' seven remaining opponents have a losing conference record (totaling 16-48). Last week and next week were the biggest hurdles along the way to a potential conference title. Christina DenBoer spearheaded the Eagles' three wins last week, leading the conference with 42 digs in her 11 sets played. The sophomore outside also had 23 digs and 11 blocks in a gritty and necessary standout performance. Bekah Roth managed 16 blocks to lead the conference and was rewarded as the PacWest Volleyball Defender of the Week, making it five weeks in a row that a Biola player has been featured in the conference awards. Sierra Bauder, Karly Dantuma and Sami Hover also appeared in the top-5 in the conference in various stat categories for their work in Hawaii. Now, it becomes about how well this team can rebound after a grueling three matches in four days. Thankfully, the schedule worked out so that Biola has Saturday - Thursday with no matches. Concordia only has Sunday - Wednesday with no matches after making the same exact trip.

RANKED! (KIND OF): With its tremendous overall record of 16-5 and the recent stretch of eight consecutive wins, Biola Volleyball earned a spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll. The Eagles and Azusa Pacific Cougars are the only PacWest teams represented in the poll. Both teams are just outside of the top-25, but they are "receiving votes". Volleyball becomes the first program at Biola to be represented in an officially recognized NCAA Division II national poll in season. Visit the Week 8 AVCA Poll.

SERVING UP SOME BLOCKS: Biola leads the conference in blocks eight now, with the most total blocks (180) and the most on a per-set basis (2.28/set). The Eagles are also the team that hits into the fewest blocks, both total (104) and per-set (1.32/set). In addition to blocking well, the Eagles know how to serve and are not a susceptible to aces from their opponents. BU has the second-most aces in the conference (125) and has been aced at the lowest rate in the conference (1.18/set). The Eagles are in the top-half of the conference rankings in all other categories (except digs), but the work behind the service line and at the net has been especially notable this year.

MIDDLE BLOCKER BATTLE: Sierra Bauder fell from first to second in the nation in hitting percentage this week. That's because Azusa Pacific's Julianne Miller took over the top spot. She's hitting .436 with 197 kills this year, while Bauder is hitting .435 with 201 kills. The two have put together strikingly similar seasons to this point and will likely be the last two names on the board in discussion for conference player of the year if this level of play continues. In addition to leading in kills, Bauder also has a slight edge in blocking with 82 total blocks to Miller's 73 and a 1.04 per-set number that is just a tick above Miller's 1.03. Hold your breath until next week when these two go head-to-head in Azusa. It is sure to be a show.

ROAD TO 1,000 (AND THEN SOME): Senior opposite hitter Karly Dantuma has now passed the 1,000 kill plateau and sits at 1,099. Dantuma also has a chance to eclipse 300 career blocks (275). If she does that she'd be just the fourth player in Biola history to have 1,000+ kills and 300+ blocks (Becky Miller, Amy Weststeyn, Michelle Warkentin). Dantuma is having the best season of her career offensively, averaging over 2.5 kills-per-set on far fewer swings than the last two years. She's hitting a career-best .312 and has upped her career hitting percentage to .234

SELTZER'S SEVENTEENTH: Seltzer is in his 17th season at the helm of the BU Volleyball squad. He's the winningest coach in program history with an all-time mark of 448-138 (.765). He's never experienced a losing season during his tenure at Biola (or even come close, with his "worst" mark being 19-11). His teams have won at least 26 matches every year since 2010. This current eight-match winning streak is the best he's had since his 2015 team began the year 15-0.

BIRD IS THE WORD: Once again this week Biola Volleyball's winning streak against bird-related mascot is at stake. The Eagles have won 33 in a row against bird-mascots, spread across the last five seasons. The Eagles have two more opportunities to extend that streak during this regular season - Saturday at Concordia and during the last week of the season when it hosts Holy Names.

NEXT WEEK: at Azusa Pacific (10/23 at 7:00 p.m.); vs. Point Loma (10/26 at 6:00 p.m.)