BELMONT, Calif. – Energized by a Senior Day crowd who partook in a pre-match ceremony celebrating outside hitter Celena Davison, libero Catharina Brant Bambirra, opposite Kiersten Kerch, middle blocker/opposite Sadie Emery, and setter Picabo Reinhold, Academy of Art volleyball came out strong, but Biola would end up prevailing 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-16) on Saturday afternoon inside Walter Gleason Gym.

As Reinhold opened the match serving, she proceeded to assist her team's two kills from Kerch and freshman outside hitter Ashley Mecham during a blistering 5-0 start. The Eagles would come back with eight unanswered, but ART U moved back ahead 10-9 on kills by junior middle blocker Jillian Wheaton, Davison, and Kerch. A 14-14 tie was eventually broken by six of seven from BU which provided momentum toward the visitors' eventual 25-18 win in the opener.

A 10-5 beginning to the second set for Biola was quickly erased by a 5-0 Urban Knights surge highlighted by three kills from Mecham then the teams battled back-and-forth to a 20-19 score favoring the Eagles. Though Wheaton and Kerch still recorded kills thereafter, five of the final seven points were won by BU, leading to a 25-21 end result.

Kerch continued to swing with success as she sent down a pair of kills amid ART U's 9-5 surge to open the third set though Biola would fight back to a 10-10 score. After Davison's kill had Academy of Art ahead 12-10, momentum would shift once again during the Eagles' subsequent 6-0 run. BU continued to add to the lead down the stretch and soon captured the match by way of a 25-16 set score.

The day's results put Academy of Art at 8-18 overall and 5-13 in PacWest play. Kerch's 10 kills were a season-high and one off her career best while Mecham added 10 kills plus nine digs. Wheaton finished with seven kills and tied her season-high of five blocks (three solo) for the fifth time. Davison had six kills, Emery contributed three kills, Reinhold collected 28 assists, and Brant Bambirra led the squad with 12 digs.

With it win streak pushed to 10 matches, Biola ended the afternoon at 19-7 overall and 15-3 in conference action. Three Eagles totaled double-digit kills led by Raegan Tjepkema's 13 while Vanessa Garcia added 37 assists and Sami Hover had 20 digs.

Though the Urban Knights' final home game is in the books, they still have one more weekend of PacWest competition with trips to Holy Names (Nov. 19) and Dominican (Nov. 20) still to come.