The Chase Gymnasium found itself packed with competition as it hosted the PacWest Volleyball Tournament Sept. 11-Sept. 13. The tournament was an annual conference for NCAA Division II colleges in the Pacific West region. The Biola volleyball team played against Stanislaus State, Texas Permian Basin, CSU Dominguez Hills, and CSU Monterey Bay during the tournament.
While these tournaments might seem exhausting, freshman business management major Alexa Bell notes how they are essential to the preparation of the season, and how it helps them improve as a team.
“The new freshmen and just everybody is in different progress. So it’s hard sometimes to go right into a game and try and gel with everybody,” Bell said. “So these tournaments and pre-season games help all of us just gel together and get to know each other in different ways. How we are as players and how we are as people.”
Coming back from a weekend long tournament in Alaska – the Seawolf Invitational –the players have seen how they perform well and how they can improve.
“I think we’ve done well. But in my opinion both of our losses were games that were winnable,” student assistant coach Abby Beckwith said. “We did go two and two, [and] it was nice to get a sweep over Cal State and San Marcos, but we do have some room to improve.”
The first team they played against in the tournament was Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Sept. 4, and they lost in a four-set match 1-3, then against Alaska Fairbanks Friday, Sept. 5, and they lost in a five-set match 2-3, then on the same day they played against Minot State and won in a three-set match 3-0, then the last team they played against was CSU San Marcos Saturday, Sept. 6, and they won in a three-set match, 3-0.
Reflecting on their previous tournament, Bell appreciates the experiences and challenges it brought to them.
“We played two Alaska teams, and they were good competition. But I think we can do way better,” Bell said. “It just showed us what we’re capable of, and we have so much to learn and get better at.”
Going into the 2025-2026 season, Beckwith recognizes the hard work and dedication that the players have put into the team and has a positive outlook on how the season might go. The girls next home game will be against Westmont Friday, Sept. 19 hosted in Chase Gymnasium.
“We kind of had a little bit of a hard time last year with injuries, and I know the girls are definitely excited this year,” Beckwith said. “I think they know the amount of work they put in over the spring, so they’re looking forward to what the season is going to be like.“
