IRVINE, Calif. --- In absolutely gut-wrenching fashion Biola Volleyball suffered it's first PacWest Conference loss in over two weeks on Friday night. Biola's thirst to avenge an earlier home loss to Concordia Irvine was very nearly satisfied, but then left to linger as Biola dropped the match in five sets (26-24; 20-25; 27-25; 18-25; 9-15). 

Biola held early leads in just about every set, but was susceptible to long Concordia runs that made things tight in the sets Biola managed to win and handed the hosts victory in sets two, four and five.

The Eagles of La Mirada took an early 7-2 lead in the first set to get off to the best start imaginable in a challenging road environment. CUI had a "Code Yellow" themed rivalry night to attempt to get BU off it's game. Early on, it definitely didn't work.

BU earned its first 15 points of the match on its own merit, either by kill or block. It was not until the 16th point that Concordia made an error, by serving one long. It was a similar story for CUI's start to that first game as both teams played nearly perfect on the offensive end. That resulted in the hosts' ability to bring the game all the way back tied at 15-15 before that service error.

Biola maintained that lead until Concordia managed to get BU out of system and force an attack from Sami Hover that went out. That play made it 21-20 in favor of Concordia and forced Aaron Seltzer's squad to dig in. 

Dig in they did, winning six of the next nine, which proved just enough to secure a 26-24 game one win. Kills by Raegan Tjepkema and Abigail Copeland set up the set point, which was secured by an errant CUI attack. The two teams combined for eight blocks in the first game, with Biola posting five in that set alone. 

Incremental rushes in the second game helped Biola have a few early leads at 12-8 and 17-14, but ultimately Concordia caught up, using a six-point run to turn the game around and take a 20-17 lead. They'd go on to win the game using 11 wins in the last 14 rallies to get it done. Game two was actually Biola's most efficient of the whole match (.261), but Concordia can say the same hitting .368 in their win.

Game three was very similar to the opener, seeing the Eagles (of LaMi) take a 5-2 lead right away. The lead went away quickly but then returned again at 13-10. It would change hands three more times until a run of six out of seven extended Biola's advantage to 19-15 after a massive Bekah Roth slam.

Concordia then won three of the next four before chipping away some more and ultimately tying things at 23-23 to put the whole match in the balance in a critical set three. Biola had set points at 24-23 and 25-24 but could not cash in. Thankfully a Raegan Tjepkema service ace sealed the deal at 26-24. Similarly to set one, the two teams combined for a ton of blocks in the third, with CUI notching six and Biola adding four. For the match Concordia would have 17 to Biola's 13. It's the first time Biola's been out-blocked since its match at Chaminade in early-October.

After the third set the match became all Concordia as Biola began to stuggle in serve-receive and had a difficult time getting consistently good passes.

The Eagles had a chance when the game went into the fifth set. Concordia set the tone with an early lead, but Biola was chipping back and was within as little as one at the 8-7 mark. Unfortunately, two points later the match would turn on its head as a heavily disputed call went in favor of Concordia, helping them to 10-7 and gut-punching a Biola team that was just picking up momentum.

Biola had a good offensive night, ending with five more kills than CUI (69-64), but BU couldn't capitalize when it needed it the most and instead suffers a season sweep at the hands of Concordia. It's the first time CUI won both matchups in a year since 2012.

Sabrina Winslow and Bekah Roth each had 14 kills to lead Biola. Concordia's Jaclyn Brown had herself a night, going for 19 kills to lead all hitters. Copeland (13) and Tjepkema (11) also topped double-digits for BU.

Sami Hover set a new season-high with 33 digs. She was one of FIVE Biola players in double figures in that category. The Eagles topped 100 digs as a team (105) for the first time in a single match since 2016 when they had 100 against Grand View.

Abby Brewster, who earlier this week told us about her desire to top double-digit kills, again came up just one short with nine. She shouldn't kick herself though as she was fantastic in all other areas, recording a season-best 24 digs and pairing it with 28 assists.

The two teams combined to swing a remarkable 429 times in the match. That's the highest combined total in a Biola match since the last time it topped 400, which was once again that Grand View match.

The loss stings as it drops Biola to 12-10 overall and 9-5 in PacWest Conference play. The Eagles have just eight matches left now, all at Chase Gymnasium. That slate begins this coming Friday vs. Fresno Pacific.