LAST WEEK: W vs. Dixie State, 3-2; L vs. CSU Monterey Bay, 1-3; W vs. #19 Northwest Nazarene, 3-2. (2-1 weekly record; 2-1 overall record)

THIS WEEK: at NCAA West Region Volleyball Showcase, hosted by Azusa Pacific (Azusa, Calif.).

MULTIMEDIA: Both live video and live stats will be provided by Azusa Pacific for each of Biola's four matches for this week. See the links below. NOTE: There is a $7.95 per match cost or a $39.95 tournament pass.

RV BIOLA vs. #19 NORTHWEST NAZARENE (0-3): Thursday Aug. 30 at 8:30 a.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
It's back-to-back matches for the Eagles and Nighthawks. Biola and NNU squared off in their final match at this weekend's Fairfield Inn Invitational and get the privilege of playing each other again just five days later. Biola won the first matchup in five sets, coming from down two sets to one to force five and win the clinching set 15-8. The match marked the return of Christina DenBoer (10 kills, 2 aces, 4 digs). It also marked the first win over a ranked team for Biola since the Eagles took down No. 24 Azusa Pacific at home on Oct. 7, 2017. Biola had more kills, a better hitting percentage, more aces, more blocks and more assists in the match. It marked the first time in 2018 that BU had more aces than its opponent in a match. Serve receive was the most notable area of difficulty on opening week and something Head Coach Aaron Seltzer is sure to work on with his team this week in practice. Northwest Nazarene also lost to Dixie State and CSU Monterey Bay during their tournament to get off to an 0-3 start. They will be hungry for a win.

RV BIOLA vs. #11 CSU SAN BERNARDINO (2-0): Thursday Aug. 30 at 3:15 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
CSU San Bernardino had a lighter opening weekend than most, opting for a shirt road trip to Washington, rather than committing to a full tournament. The Coyotes beat Seattle Pacific in three on Friday and then went over to Central Washington and handled the Wildcats in straight sets as well. As a team, the Coyotes hit .283 in their opening action, averaging 17.3 kills-per-set over their six victorious sets. One potential area of advantage for Biola is in blocking. CSUSB only managed seven blocks in its two matches, while it hit into the block 11 times. Biola had at least 10 blocks in each of its three opening matches. The Coyotes are the top team in this pod at the Showcase, as they won the West Region last year and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the seventh time in school history. They beat Azusa Pacific (3-2), California Baptist (3-1) and Western Washington (3-0) to take the West Region title a year ago. They return 12 student-athletes from last year's squad, including five of their top-6 attackers. However, last season they had the Regional Player of the Year, CCAA Player of the Year and Consensus All-American Lauren Nicholson, who registered 522 kills on a .265 percentage, and she is now out of eligibility and no longer in the program. Biola is 6-1 all-time against the Coyotes, including wins in the last four meetings, all of which came before 1995.

RV BIOLA at #5 WESTERN WASHINGTON (1-3): Saturday Sept. 1 at 9:30 a.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Western Washington is the highest ranked program on Biola's schedule in 2018. The Vikings went 27-4 in 2017, winning the GNAC title and coming up just short in the championship match of the NCAA West Region playoffs. Don't be fooled by the Vikings' 1-3 record during opening week. They chose to travel to Pensacola, Florida and play four ranked opponents, including the nation's No. 2, No. 7, No. 15 and No. 24 teams. They lost their first three matches of the week, before salvaging things a bit with a 3-2 win over No. 15 West Florida (25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13). This is the first-ever meeting between Biola and Western Washington. The Vikings went 3-1 in last season's West Region Showcase, playing in the top pod, with their only loss coming to CBU. The Vikings have five players returning from their 2017 squad, including senior outside hitter Abby Phelps, who was the 2017 GNAC Player of the Year. Phelps was a major reason for WWU's win over West Florida, registering a season-best 24 kills, hitting .390 and adding 15 digs to record 25 points in the match. She also had double-doubles in two of the other matches this past week (12k/13d, 11k/20d).

RV BIOLA at RV SONOMA STATE (3-1): Saturday Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Sonoma State is a repeat matchup from an early season tournament in 2017. The Eagles faced the Seawolves at Notre Dame de Namur and beat them in five sets (25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12). The Seawolves and Eagles both promoted themselves to the top pod in the region with high-achieving 2017 seasons. Sonoma State finished 2017 with a 20-9 overall record, 14-4 conference record and made it into the NCAA Division II West Regional championship. They almost knocked out hosts and No. 1 ranked California Baptist in the first round, pushing the Lancers to five sets before falling in the decisive set, 15-9. Sonoma State was picked to win the CCAA North Division in the preseason coaches' poll and has not disappointed with their 3-1 showing in the first weekend of the year. The team's only loss came to Georgia College, which was picked to finish second in the Peach Belt Conference this year and was 24-8 in 2017. The Seawolves' top two attackers from last season return, but they ran a 5-1 and lost their only setter, who accumulated over 1,200 assists last year. Redshirt freshman Jenna Miller was the setter of choice for the first weekend, recording 89 assists in the first four matches. Biola is 2-1 all-time against Sonoma State, with last year's meeting being the first between the two programs since 1985.

NCAA DIVISION II WEST REGION CROSSOVER: This is the second time Biola Volleyball has been a part of this season-opening regional tournament. Azusa Pacific has participated in the tournament since 2014, but this is their first time hosting. Last year, the Eagles were inserted into the pod that had 2016's lowest-finishing programs from the region. This season Biola finds itself in the pod with the region's top finishers, thanks to a second place finish in the PacWest one year ago. Biola went 3-1 in last year's tournament with a surprise defeat at the hands of the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. Outside of that upset result, Head Coach Aaron Seltzer's team cruised, winning nine sets and dropping just two in the other three matches. Last season, the GNAC was the conference with the best showing at the crossover, going 27-17. The PacWest was 28-28 and the CCAA finished 21-31. This year, Biola has a much stiffer test ahead of it, facing three ranked teams and another receiving votes. The event will be hosted at APU's Felix Event Center. More information on APU's ticketing and parking can be found at this ticket information link.

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 434-134 (.764). 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.

BLOCK PARTY: Biola had a big week around the net during its opening weekend. The Eagles recorded 30 total blocks (third in the PacWest), led by Bekah Roth, who was in on 17 of the Eagles' 30 blocks. She averaged 1.21 blocks-per-set this weekend, which is about 40 points higher than her per-set average from her freshman season. She currently ranks fourth among PacWest players in blocks. Biola is high up on most statistical rankings within the PacWest through one week, sitting inside the top-3 in hitting percentage, opponent's hitting percentage, assists, kills, blocks, and opponent's blocks

ROAD TO 1,000: Senior opposite hitter Karly Dantuma comes is sitting on 935 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.

KILLING IT: Biola had 64 kills in its win over Dixie State and 58 kills in its win over Northwest Nazarene this past weekend. Those are the two highest single-match totals in the PacWest this year. The Eagles also had three of the eight-best hitting percentage totals and the top-two matches in terms of total assists.

NEXT WEEK: Fresno Pacific (9/8 at 3:00 p.m.) in Biola's home opener and conference opener.

*Note - Rankings at the time of this release are based off AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The week 1 poll will release later in the day on Monday, August 27. See the link above to find new rankings.