IRVINE, CA --- After waiting three extra hours for its appointment with No. 1 Fresno Pacific, the NAIA's No. 4 Concordia hit just .040 (26-22-100) in a 25-20, 25-15, 25-21 loss to the Sunbirds.

Concordia takes its 10th loss in a row to Fresno Pacific, dating back to 2004, as the Eagles end the regular season at 26-5, including a 15-5 mark in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

Fresno Pacific broke Concordia's season-long string of home 3-game sweeps in GSAC action in the opening set and then broke the Eagles' back with a 15-5 run to end the third set and end the Sunbirds' regular season at 29-0, 20-0 GSAC.

"It was an emotional day for us, but Fresno Pacific played well, especially under the circumstances," head coach Paula Weishoff said. "We still have two weeks until the National Championships, so we're just going to focus on the positive and look ahead."

After sitting in traffic for over nine hours due to wildfires that swept across Southern California throughout the day, Fresno Pacific was clearly out of sync in the opening set, but so where the Eagles, as the two teams exchanged blows in a back-and-forth battle that ended when the Sunbirds posted a 4-0 game-ending rally featuring two kills from Brittany Pierce to win the opener by a score of 25-20.

Pierce ended with nine kills and seven digs, while Thais Julio and Ke Ke Wang ripped 13 and 11 kills, respectively, and each contributed five of Fresno Pacific's 11 blocks.

 Fresno Pacific kept up the momentum alive that it had built to end game one into the second set, shackling Concordia's hitters, who were held to an abysmal -.214 (4-10-28) hitting clip while Fresno Pacific hit .321 (14-5-28).

Concordia came out with renewed energy in the finale, however, as Lauren Allen came off the bench to serve the Eagles to seven points in a row--including three aces--to take a commanding lead at 11-3.

The Eagles led at one point by an 18-11 margin thanks to a kill from Stephanie Scheele, who swatted six kills to draw just six tallies away from the school career record of 1,166, but Fresno Pacific answered with an 8-1 rally to tie the match at 19-19.

Concordia's only points the rest of the way were on kills from Amber Ridens and Jamie Friedrich, who both finished with four kills, as Fresno Pacific closed out on a 5-0 rally to win 25-21.

Serrina Russo and Stephanie Scheele each tallied six kills for the Eagles.

Concordia will find out its seeding at the 36-team field of the NAIA National Championships Dec. 2-6 in a release from the NAIA tomorrow (Nov. 16).