THIS WEEK: at Fresno Pacific (2-9) - Wednesday September 25 at 6 p.m.; vs Concordia Irvine (7-4) - Saturday September 28 at 7 p.m. (NCAA Acceptance Celebration - Adidas giveaways, free shirts, food giveaway, wear red!)

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live statistics will be available for both matches. See the links below for the direct link for each match. Biola offers free live video of all home events at portal.stretchinternet.com/biola.

BIOLA AT FRESNO PACIFIC (2-9): Wednesday Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video ($6.95)
Following a 2-0 weekend up north, the Eagles head to central California to take on the Fresno Pacific University Sunbirds. FPU currently sits at 2-9 overall and 1-1 in PacWest play following a 3-0 victory over Notre Dame de Namur University. The Sunbirds are led by freshman outside hitter Makena Ogas who has tallied 125 kills already this season. Biola enters this matchup with an overall record of 28-46 against FPU, but the Eagles have won the last four matches dating back to 2011. This is the first of two meetings between Biola and Fresno Pacific this season. The next time out is on Friday Nov. 8 and kicks off a stretch of eight consecutive home matches to end the regular season for BU.

FRESNO PACIFIC TICKETING INFO | FRESNO PACIFIC CAMPUS MAP

BIOLA VS CONCORDIA IRVINE (7-4): Saturday Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video \\ PROMOTION: NCAA Celebration! Free shirts, raffle off Biola Adidas gear, free food, WEAR RED!
Biola hosts its first home match of the season against the nearby Concordia University Irvine Eagles. CUI is 7-4 overall and 1-2 in PacWest play, including a loss to a team Biola swept in Academy of Art University. Concordia is led by junior outside hitter Riley Gill with 121 kills. The Eagles are 43-20 all-time against CUI, with Biola winning the last five meetings between the two squads dating back to this week in 2014. Biola Head Coach Aaron Seltzer and Concordia Head Coach Paula Weishoff have a long history together, with 10 years of history against one another and 14 matches against each other all-time. Biola is 6-8 in those matches, but the Eagles have won the last four meetings. This match marks the first home PacWest Conference event on-campus since Biola was accepted as full NCAA Division II members. Coincidentally, the first-year Concordia Irvine was full members (2017), they hosted Biola in their campus' first home PacWest Conference event as full members. It was a memorable night as it was also Biola's first-ever PacWest Conference competition in any sport. Biola rose to the occasion and beat the hosts in five sets, with the Eagles' defense stealing the show that night as Sami Hover and Tess Van Grouw combined for 51 digs and Savannah Hilde chipped in 11 kills and 18 digs of her own. Biola played CUI and FPU in the same week last season and won both matchups, taking a 3-0 home win over Concordia and 3-1 road win at Fresno Pacific. Prior to that, the last time Biola played the two sides back-to-back was Oct. 16 and 19, 2001. At the time all three teams were in the NAIA and Biola was ranked No. 3, Concordia Irvine ranked No. 10 and Fresno Pacific ranked No. 1. Biola beat CUI, 3-1, but came up short against FPU in a 3-0 loss.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: It was a good week for the Eagles as they got off on the right foot in PacWest Conference play. Biola is one of just two PacWest schools to begin the 2019 season with a 2-0 conference mark. The Eagles went on the road and handed Holy Names a 3-1 defeat and then crushed Academy of Art in three the very next day. Biola maintained its undefeated record against those schools in the PacWest era and also kept its lengthy Northern California winning streak alive. Another excellent week allowed Sami Hover to maintain her second-place standing in the conference in total digs. She's got 189 this season, which is second only to Azusa Pacific's Bailey Henington (193). APU plays Academy of Art and Holy Names this week with the same quick trip schedule as Biola had.

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES: Join us on Saturday night as Biola Volleyball host Concordia Irvine in the first on-campus PacWest Conference contest since Biola was accepted as Full NCAA Division II members. We will have tons of giveaways and raffle prizes and there should be a great volleyball match. First serve is at seven, but be sure to get there early to grab one of the 300 NCAA T-shirts we will be giving away and grab some grub. Make sure you wear red!

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 (334)
Vanessa Garcia - 1,500 assists (1,217)
Vanessa Garcia - 100 service aces (54)
Vanessa Garcia - 500 digs (374)
Savannah Hilde - 300 kills (235)
Savannah Hilde - 50 matches (46)
Sami Hover - 100 matches (81)
Sami Hover - 75 service aces (62)
Sami Hover - 1,500 digs (1,188) (school record: 2,097)
Kaitlin O'Brien - 150 assists (147)
Kaitlin O'Brien - 150 service aces (130) (school record: 182)
Bekah Roth - 100 matches (80)
Bekah Roth - 500 kills (447)
Bekah Roth - 100 service aces (75)
Bekah Roth - 300 total blocks (255)
Sabrina Winslow - 800 kills (742)
Sabrina Winslow - 50 service aces (39)
Sabrina Winslow - 500 digs (467)
Sabrina Winslow - 150 blocks (129)

THE ROAD TO 1,100: Biola Volleyball is 1,081-447 (.707) all-time. Biola's 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 38 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. Has seven more bird matches on tap in 2019, all in PacWest Conference play. This includes both matchups this week (Sunbirds, Eagles). The toughest test figures 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. This week also makes it officially five full calendar years since the last loss to a bird-related mascot. CUI is the last bird-related team to have a win over Biola (9/20/14).

NEXT WEEK: at Point Loma (5-5) - Wednesday Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.; at RV Azusa Pacific (7-2) - Saturday Oct. 5 at 3 p.m.