Phoenix, AZ- Arizona Christian and Hope International played a five set thriller on Saturday that saw ACU lead in nearly all categories like kills and assists but also errors and attempts.  In the end, the Firestorm came up just short 3-2 (27-25, 14-25, 25-20, 12-25, 9-15). 

The match began with HIU opening up with a 6-1 edge.  ACU could only climb closer than three until the very end of the set.  Facing set point at 24-18, the Firestorm came storming back.  A kill from Senior Samantha McCants, a block by Junior Kinsey Pease and Sophomore Toria Siemens, another block by Siemens and Senior Brenna Bailey, then kills from Bailey, Senior Haley Worden, and Siemens keyed a 7-0 run to move ACU ahead 25-24.  Three points later, Arizona Christian completed the huge comeback with 27-25 set win.

Bailey and Siemens both had three kills in the opener.

Set two opened with two kills from Siemens sandwiched around a service ace from Junior Hailey Settle for a quick 3-0 lead.  After ties at 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5, Hope International moved in front at 6-5 and stay ahead the rest of the set.

Four kills from Bailey paced ACU.

The first 16 points of the third set featured four ties and three lead changes up to a tie of 8-8.  A service ace from Delaney Harris sent ACU to the top of the scoreboard for the rest of the third set.

Siemens recorded three kills on three attacks in the middle set.

After a 4-4 tie to open the fourth set, a 6-0 HIU run (aided by three straight ACU attack errors) moved the Royals ahead for good in the set.

Bailey was the first player for either team to reach double digit kills as she drilled 12 kills through four sets.

With a race to 15 points in the fifth and final set, the teams played to a 5-5 tie.  But HIU used an attack error to grab for the lead for the remainder of the match.

A match high 14 kills from Bailey was followed by the trio of McCants, Siemens, and Settle all recording 10 kills.  Settle and Harris combined for 36 assists.  Worden came up with 16 digs.

ACU topped in kills (50-47) and assists (45-44) but saw the match get away from them as they also lead in attack errors (34-19) and service errors (14-6).

With nearly two weeks off, ACU will not be back in action until Thursday, October 6, when they host Menlo in Fultz Memorial Gym at 7:00 pm.