THIS WEEK: at Holy Names (1-4) - Friday September 20 at 6 p.m.; at Academy of Art (2-5) - Saturday September 21 at 3 p.m.

MULTIMEDIA: Both live video and live stats will be provided by both host institutions. See the links included in the previews below.

BIOLA vs. HOLY NAMES (1-4): Friday Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
The Eagles will travel to take on the Hawks on Friday after a 1-3 weekend at the DII West region showcase in San Bernardino. Holy Names sits at 1-4 following a winless performance at the Turlock, California (Stanislaus State) location of the DII showcase. The Eagles have a dominant history against the Hawks, boasting a 9-0 all-time record while dropping only one set over that span. Holy Names' only win of the season came against UC Merced in the team's season-opener. They are led by a pair of juniors in Sierra Allen and Maddy Standley. Those two have combined for 75 of the Hawks' 150 kills and are the only players averaging more than two kills-per-set. The Hawks' offense has been off to a bit of a slow start this year, averaging fewer than nine kills-per-set and hitting just .065 as a team. Last season Biola held the Hawks to an average of 16 points-per-set in its two sweeps of HNU.

HNU CAMPUS MAP | HNU TICKETS

BIOLA at ACADEMY OF ART (2-5): Saturday Sept. 21 at 3 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Biola plays Saturday in San Francisco, Calif. against the Academy of Art University Urban Knights. ART U enters with a 2-5 record, including a five-set loss to a common opponent of the Eagles in UC San Diego at the La Jolla location last week's DII showcase. Biola holds a 3-0 record against the Urban Knights dating back to 2017. They have never dropped a set in their three matchups against Academy of Art. The Urban Knights have already doubled their win total from a year ago, when they finished the year 1-29 with their only victory being a late-October five-set win over Holy Names. The Urban Knights are led by the reigning PacWest Conference Player of the Week, Ashley Pawlak. Pawlak had 64 kills in four matches this past weekend, helping ART U to a 2-2 record at the NCAA Division II West Region Showcase. She had three double-doubles with a weekly total of 65 digs. The only category she's not excelling in it blocking, which is necessary against this Biola group.

MAP TO KEZAR PAVILION | ART U TICKETS

ABOUT LAST WEEK: Biola was just one successful match point away from salvaging a 2-2 week at last weekend's NCAA Division II West Region Showcase. The Eagles were up 10-5 in a fifth set against Alaska Anchorage and had match point at 14-13 following a Madison Beebe kill that broke a 13-13 tie. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Seawolves went on a streak of three-straight rally wins to take that fifth set 3-2 and beat Biola for the second-straight weekend. The Eagles managed a dominant 3-1 win over Simon Fraser and competed well with No. 2 CSU San Bernardino, but ended the weekend with a disappointing match with a backsliding CSU San Marcos team. The results of last week have Biola finishing the preseason with a 3-5 record. It's the first time the team's come out of the non-conference schedule with a record under .500 since 1999.  But, the Eagles also had the most difficult preseason slate of any PacWest Conference team, at least in terms of strength of schedule. We fully expect the ship to be righted with the start of PacWest play this week. The Eagles' first three conference opponents have a combined record of 3-17. Coincidentally, that 1999 team had a 3-5 preseason mark as well. They went on to a successful regular season and finished the year 16-13 overall.

A SOLID DEBUT: Abby Brewster opened eyes this past weekend at the NCAA Division II West Region Showcase. After missing opening week due to injury, the redshirt freshman put up some gaudy numbers in the Eagles' 1-3 week. She had 25 kills over the four matches and is now second only to Sabrina Winslow in kills-per-set at 1.92 early in the season. She added 59 assists and 43 digs while racking up double-doubles against Simon Fraser and CSU San Marcos. She was just one kill away from a triple-double in the four-set win over the Clan (9 kills, 30 assists, 12 digs). Brewster gives Biola another valuable piece as Head Coach Aaron Seltzer works his way through a completely new lineup in 2019. She can be a straight setter and also play outside hitter, increasing her usefulness. She's still working her way back from injury and should get better and better as her inaugural season rolls on.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Biola Volleyball has an excellent track record in competition in Northern California. Over the last decade, Biola's recorded a 19-2 record in matches played in NorCal. The only two losses were to out-of-area opponents in a neutral-site tournament played in Northern California. The last time Biola's lost a true road match in Northern California was October of 1992 at UC Davis.

HITTING A WALL: Offensive efficiency has been hard to come by for both Biola and its opponents through the first eight matches of the year. The Eagles are hitting .141 as a team, which is eighth of the 12 teams in the PacWest Conference. Concordia Irvine leads the conference with a .281 effort. The Eagles' hit .268 as a team last season and have hit above .200 every season since 2002. The good news for BU is that it has not been just them struggling, as Biola's held its opponents to just a .197 mark early on this year. That's the fourth-best mark in the conference and has a lot to do with the great defense from the likes of Sami Hover, Becca Branch and Vanessa Garcia (296 combined digs). This week Biola holds the edge over Holy Names (.065) but trails ART U (.177). In the seven previous PacWest matchups between Biola and its two opponents BU has a hitting percentage of .288 with 266 kills (38/match) and just 80 errors.

IT'S GO TIME: The 2019 Biola Volleyball season has added significance in that it's the Eagles' first as full members in NCAA Division II. Back on July 12 the Biola campus received a call from the NCAA Division II Membership Committee notifying BU of its successful completion of the membership transition process. The change became official as of September 1 and now Biola is officially eligible for NCAA postseason play, national and regional rankings and official NCAA postseason honors for the first time. With no conference tournament, the Eagles will have to finish in the top-8 in the NCAA Division II West Region rankings to be able to get that first taste of NCAA postseason play.

UPCOMING MILESTONES:
Becca Branch - 400 assists (333)
Vanessa Garcia - 1,500 assists (1,168)
Vanessa Garcia - 100 service aces (50)
Vanessa Garcia - 500 digs (361)
Savannah Hilde - 300 kills (235)
Savannah Hilde - 50 matches (46)
Sami Hover - 100 matches (79)
Sami Hover - 75 service aces (59)
Sami Hover - 1,500 digs (1,148) (school record: 2,097)
Kaitlin O'Brien - 150 assists (146)
Kaitlin O'Brien - 150 service aces (130) (school record: 182)
Bekah Roth - 100 matches (78)
Bekah Roth - 500 kills (430)
Bekah Roth - 100 service aces (75)
Bekah Roth - 300 total blocks (253)
Sabrina Winslow - 800 kills (719)
Sabrina Winslow - 50 service aces (39)
Sabrina Winslow - 500 digs (457)
Sabrina Winslow - 150 blocks (127)

THE ROAD TO 1,100: Biola Volleyball is 1,079-447 (.707) all-time. The Eagles have a chance to notch win number 1,100 this season with a solid showing. Biola needs 24 wins to do it and has averaged 27 wins-per-year in Head Coach Aaron Seltzer's 17-year tenure. A good season will also put Seltzer within a handful of wins of 500 when the season is all done. He enters 2019 with an all-time coaching mark of 462-139 (.768).

NEW STAFF: Seltzer's coaching staff has doubled from its 2018 size. He and lead assistant Gracee Teague did it along in 2018 but add Alex Leja and Sierra Bauder for 2019. Bauder, of course, was on the team last season and won conference player of the year. Leja is no stranger to Biola, having been groomed as a player and assistant coach at Vanguard University from 2009-15 before serving as head coach at NCAA Division III Alma College from 2016-18. 

BIRD STREAK COUNTER: Biola Volleyball has won 37 consecutive matches against teams with a bird mascot. The Eagles have not lost to another bird species (or fictional bird species) since the 2014 season. Biola enters the 2019 season with eight bird matchups on tap, all in PacWest Conference play. The first matchup is the PacWest opener on the road at Holy Names this week. The toughest test seems to be Concordia Irvine, which won the PacWest Championship in 2016 and is on its way back towards the top after two tough years in '17 and '18. CUI is also the last bird-related team to have a win over Biola (9/20/14).

NEXT WEEK: at Fresno Pacific (0-8) - Wednesday September 25 at 6 p.m.; vs Concordia Irvine (6-2) - Saturday September 28 at 7 p.m. (NCAA Acceptance Celebration - Adidas giveaways, free shirts, food giveaway, wear red!)