Phoenix, AZ- Although Arizona Christian held late leads in their match against Hope International, the Firestorm could not hold their leads and fell 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-15) on Thursday evening. Junior Breanna Scott topped with 10 kills and 16 digs.

Dropping the first point of the match saw the Firestorm (9-6, 1-3 GSAC) respond by scoring the next seven.  Senior Alli Lemnitzer (kill), Senior Debbie White (block with Scott and kill), and a service ace by Senior Hailey Carpenter was all part of the run.  Fighting off several ties, ACU remained in front and were ahead 22-19.  But Arizona Christian scored just one more time in the set.

Lemnitzer produced four kills on seven attacks without an error (.571) in the first set.

The second set saw ACU fall behind again before a 6-0 run highlighted by a kill and two service aces from Scott handed them the lead.  With the set tied 10-10, Sophomore Delaney Harris spearheaded a 5-0 run with two service aces and an assist on kill by Sophomore Amanda Bakonyi to push the Firestorm ahead for the rest of the set.

ACU recorded only eight kills in the set but picked up the set win thanks to their serving as they rattled off seven aces without an error.  HIU had three service errors without an ace to account for ten ACU points thanks to the service game of both teams.

Set three featured 11 ties and two lead changes.  Holding onto a 20-17 edge, ACU gave up the next five points.  Arizona Christian forced ties at 22-22 and 23-23 but would not regain a lead the rest of the match (gaining only a 1-1 tie in the fourth set).

Behind the ten kills from Scott, Lemnitzer ended her night with nine kills.  Harris tied Scott at the 16 digs mark.

On Saturday, the Firestorm will host Vanguard in Fultz Gym at 4:00 pm.