THIS WEEK: at Fairfield Inn Invitational, hosted by Northwest Nazarene (Nampa, Idaho).

MULTIMEDIA: Both live video and live stats will be provided by NNU for each of Biola's three matches for this opening week. See the links below. NOTE: Audio commentary will only be available for the final match.

RV BIOLA vs. DIXIE STATE (0-0): Friday Aug. 24 at 8:30 a.m. PT \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Biola has a 2-0 all-time record vs. the Trailblazers. The two teams met twice last year during Dixie State's final PacWest season and Biola's first. BU won 3-0 in St. George, Utah and 3-0 at home on Senior Night. This is the first neutral site meeting between the two teams. DSU was 13-15 in 2017 and finished tied for sixth in the conference. They are now a part of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, where they were picked to finish seventh among 16 teams in the RMAC's annual preseason poll. The Trailblazers feature a roster with 11 returning players (5 starters) and 10 newcomers. They picked up two notable transfers (both outside hitters) with All-American and all-region junior college honors.

RV BIOLA vs. CSU MONTEREY BAY (0-0): Friday Aug. 24 at 4:00 p.m. PT \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Biola has a 3-0 all-time record against the Otters, with their last matchup coming in the NCAA West Region crossover tournament last season. Biola won that matchup in convincing 3-0 fashion to keep its undefeated mark against CSUMB. All three matchups between these two sides have come on neutral floor. CSUMB went 14-13 in 2017 and finished fourth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association's North Region. The Otters were selected to finish in that same spot in the recently released CCAA preseason poll. Biola sophomore middle blocker Taylor Stainbrook was a part of the CSUMB roster last season before moving here to La Mirada. The Otters' 2018 roster features nine upperclassmen and four freshmen.

RV BIOLA at #19 NORTHWEST NAZARENE (0-0): Saturday Aug. 25 at 1:00 p.m. PT \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Earlier this month, Biola Volleyball became the first Biola program to be featured on a NCAA Division II national poll. The Eagles are receiving votes in the preseason edition of the AVCA Coaches' Poll and will face the No. 19 team in that poll, Northwest Nazarene, in the week's final match. The Eagles are 1-0 all-time against the Nighthawks, with the teams' only previous matchup being a five-setter on a neutral floor back in 1997. Northwest Nazarene went a stellar 25-5 in 2017 and qualified for the NCAA West Regional as the GNAC's second-place team. The Nighthawks were eliminated from postseason competition by the GNAC Champion, No. 5 Western Washington, which Biola faces next week. The Nighthawks return six players from the 2017 team, including Cami Heninger, a senior OH who was named to the preseason All-GNAC team earlier this week.

FAIRFIELD INN INVITATIONAL: This is the first time Northwest Nazarene has hosted this tournament. The Nighthawks hosted the NCAA West Region Crossover last season and went 4-0 in their pool, including three 3-0 sweeps. Biola was playing its part of the NCAA West Region Crossover up at San Francisco State, where it went 3-1, with its only loss coming to Alaska-Fairbanks. The event will be hosted at NNU's Johnson Sports Center. More information on NNU's ticketing can be found at this ticket information link.

POLL POSITION: Biola Volleyball became the first program at Biola to appear in an officially recognized NCAA Division II poll when it received votes in last week's AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Eagles were one of two PacWest institutions to appear on the poll (RV Azusa Pacific). Also released last week was the annual PacWest Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. Biola was picked to finish second to Azusa Pacific. The two programs finished tied for second last season with identical 15-5 conference records. Head Coach Aaron Seltzer's team received one first-place vote in the PacWest poll. Junior outside hitter Sabrina Winslow represented Biola on the preseason All-PacWest team. She was one of just seven players in the 12-team conference to receive the honor. Biola and Azusa Pacific have a scrimmage scheduled for Tuesday of this week (1pm at Azusa). Since it is a scrimmage no scores or stats can be reported and the match cannot be live streamed.

SELTZER'S SEVENTEENTH: Seltzer is entering 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 432-133 (.765). He helped this team make an immediate impression in its first NCAA Division II season by leading the Eagles to a 28-7 overall mark, which would've been good enough to qualify Biola for the NCAA West Region Championship, if the Eagles were postseason eligible. Volleyball was the only program at Biola that would've qualified in 2017-18.

BRINGING IT BACK: Biola returns nearly its full roster from that impressive 2017 season. There is a major loss in the departure of 2017 PacWest Libero of the Year Tess Van Grouw, but Biola has retooled and should be ready to compete again this year. Some key areas of attention will be the overall health and wellness of some of the upperclassmen, the assimilation of sophomore Sami Hover into the libero roll and the readiness of the freshman entering the program. The first two weeks will be a great barometer for Seltzer and the Eagles as they face ranked opponents in five of their first seven matches.

ROAD TO 1,000: Senior opposite hitter Karly Dantuma comes into the 2018 season with 900 career kills. She's likely to be a major player in the Biola offense this year and should be able to cross the 1,000 career kill plateau within the first third of the season. If she can hit the mark, she'd be just the 15th student-athlete in the 50-year history of the program to reach it.

POSSIBLE PACWEST LEADERS: Seniors Sierra Bauder and Brinley Beresford both finished near the top in the PacWest in major statistical categories last season and could be favored to lead the league this season. Beresford was second to California Baptist's Sydney Kralj in assists in 2017 (9.66/set). California Baptist and Kralj are no longer in the conference. Bauder was third in blocks by getting in on 168 total blocks. Her 1.28 per set number was only behind a player from CBU and Concordia-Irvine's Amber Rose. Neither of those players are still in the conference this season.

NEXT WEEK: #19 Northwest Nazarene, #11 CSU San Bernardino, #5 Western Washington, RV Sonoma State (at NCAA West Region Crossover, hosted by Azusa Pacific)