NAMPA, Idaho --- Biola and No. 19 Northwest Nazarene began their process of getting to know one another on Saturday afternoon in Nampa in the first of two consecutive matches between the two sides. The Eagles prevailed in their second five-set match in as many days, coming away with the 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-8) victory over the hosts of the Fairfield Inn Invitational.

Today's match was the first time these two sides have faced each other in over 20 years. Biola's win moved it to 2-0 all-time against the Nighthawks, but it did not come easy as almost every set was a nailbiter from start to finish.

"Super excited to get a win. That's helpful," said Head Coach Aaron Seltzer. "I thought the team made some good adjustments and played a lot harder in games four and five. They converted a lot better and passed a lot better. Our reward is getting to face this team again on Thursday."

Biola came out of the gates strong and took a 5-1 lead in the first. NNU quickly tied it up at five before BU managed another run of its own, spurred on by Christina DenBoer's entry to the match and quick service ace. That run lifted Biola to a four-point advantage at 11-7. The Eagles maintained a 2-3 point advantage for most of the rest of the set and really put the frame away with a block, a Sierra Bauder kill and Bekah Roth service ace bringing them to a set point at 24-18.

The beginning of the second set was a flip-flop of what happened in the first as it was the Nighthawks who stormed ahead early, leading 6-1 and forcing Seltzer to burn a quick timeout. That lead would grow even more later in the set, when NNU scored five in a row to blow things open at 20-10. BU would battle back a bit, but could not overcome the Nighthawks' best offensive performance of the match.

Once again, the tied up match looked as if it would hinge upon the typically critical third set and the two teams knew it and went out and left it all on the floor. The home team again was the one with the hot start, cruising to a quick 6-1 advantage.

They would hold onto that lead for most of the set, but Seltzer's squad scored eight points in nine chances to fight back into the set and take a lead at 23-21. Bekah Roth had an ace and a kill, Christina DenBoer had two kills and Karly Dantuma ended that run with a huge swing down the line to have the Eagles in a good spot to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.

Unfortunately, NNU would win the next three points and then eventually took the frame 26-24 to light a fire under their big home crowd.

Biola rebounded quite nicely and was able to pull the match even by enduring some stressful moments before eventually taking the fourth set 25-22. The fourth set was the Nighthawks' worst of the match as they had more attack errors than kills (12-11) and hit into five Biola blocks. It was a Roth and Brinley Beresford stuffing that did NNU in for the final point of the set. Biola ended the match with 10 total blocks, giving the team double digits in all three matches this weekend.

The fifth set was kind of a no contest as Biola came out quick, maintained momentum and got the job done to the tune of a 15-8 victory. The Eagles had eight kills on 16 swings to hit .375 in a lights-out performance. Karly Dantuma was a big part of the onslaught, accounting for three consecutive kills to get points nine, 10 and 11 for BU.

After that, Bekah Roth served up back-to-back aces to get the Eagles that much closer to victory. The sophomore middle recorded four aces in the match, tying her career-high.

Following a bit more back-and-forth the victory was sealed with a senior-to-senior connection as Beresford set up Sierra Bauder for the win. Bauder ended the match with 11 kills (hitting .304) and Beresford had 22 assists added to her season total.

Sabrina Winslow led the Eagles with 13 kills in this match. She paired that with 11 digs to make up her second double-double of the young season. This last match was her most consistent hitting performance as she logged a .294 percentage.

DenBoer's insertion into the first set and transition to remain on the floor all the way around (beginning in the third set) was a great step forward for the team. It was the redshirt sophomore's first appearance of the season and she brought it from the get-go. DenBoer recorded 10 kills, swung a team-high 36 times, had two service aces, four digs and even got in on a block.

"It was great to see Tina out a little bit," said Seltzer. "We were trying to get her warm. She was a big boost. Everybody was excited to see her play and she was excited to play."

"It was awesome [to be out there]," said DenBoer. "Honestly, it was a little surreal at first, actually being on the court instead of just watching from the sidelines. It was super fun. It was good to be there to pump up my teammates."

Sierra Bauder (38 kills, .358%, 12 blocks) and Karly Dantuma (35 kills, .296%, 10 blocks) both were named to the all-tournament team after helping Biola to a 2-1 record in its first week of play.

"They both played very well," said Seltzer. "You'd expect that from seniors. That doesn't surprise me at all. They're well seasoned and great leaders in our program."

Biola (2-1) will move on to the PacWest/CCAA/GNAC Crossover tournament this next weekend. Over the course of Thursday and Saturday they will face No. 19 NNU (0-3), No. 11 CSUSB (1-0), No. 5 Western Washington (0-3) and RV Sonoma State (3-0).