Beach Volleyball 3/6/2024 7:28:00 PM Payne Moses

Protect Home Before Homecoming

Glendale, Ariz. - The Lady Firestorm bring the momentum of two straight wins into the second half of the season. ACU begins this week with the defense of home court and leaves the desert for the first time, with Irvine, California as their weekend destination. Two NCAA Division II schools await the Sandy Birds, Wayne State College visiting Glendale and Concordia University Irvine playing host this Saturday. A scrimmage with MiraCosta College rounds out the squad's spring break.

Coach Vanessa Burwick returns to CUI, where she played beach volleyball and was an assistant coach from 2018-2023.

Through 12 matches, ACU (8-4, 3-2 GSAC) remains in third place and half a game behind Vanguard (4-7, 4-2 GSAC) in the conference standings. Amaya Brown/Katzer are the top Firestorm pair (9-3) entering Week 5, while two others (Brown/Brown and Dykstra/Shaw) have matched the team's overall record of 8-4.

Game Details

#3 Arizona Christian vs. Wayne State College - Thursday, March 7 at 10:00 AM
#3 Arizona Christian at Concordia University Irvine - Saturday, March 9 at 9:00 AM
#3 Arizona Christian at MiraCosta College (Scrimmage) - Saturday, March 9 at 11:00 AM

Victory Lanes Sports Complex - Glendale, AZ
OC Great Park - Irvine, CA

*All Time Listed Are Arizona Time

Arizona Christian

The Lady Firestorm relished their first two matches at home, defeating Benedictine Mesa and Park Gilbert while only conceding a single point on Friday. None of the counting five pairs required more than two sets and only one set between the two matches needed a tie breaker.

All three of ACU's top pairs went 2-0, Railey Dykstra/Sydney Shaw pulling off the most dominant wins in the four slot (margin of 35 points between the four sets) to improve their season record to 8-4.

The number three pair of Eliana Cho/Brianna Boeckman had the honor of clinching the match against Benedictine Mesa with a 21-9, 21-16 body of work. Having lost the threes in the second match against Park Gilbert, the number one duo of Misty McCall/Mia Scheepens took care of business with back-to-back 21-15 sets.

With the entire team watching, the five pair of Amaya Brown/Emily Katzer closed out a competitive 21-16, 21-17 match to earn the Firestorm a fourth point and put an exclamation point on a season-sweep of the Buccaneers.

ACU Key Pairs

Amaya Brown/Emily Katzer - 9-3
Haley Brown/Riley Brown - 8-4
Sydney Shaw/Railey Dykstra - 8-4
Misty McCall/Mia Scheepens - 7-5
Eliana Cho/Brianna Boeckman - 5-7

Series Notes

The Firestorm are 0-2 in their all-time series with the Wayne State College Wildcats, a NCAA Division II school based out of Nebraska. The visiting Wildcats won the first match 4-1 in 2021 and blanked ACU 5-0 in the second. Both matches were played at Victory Lanes Sports Complex. Assistant coach Aubri Green, then college senior, paired up with Brianna Boeckman in the most recent meeting alongside four other current members of the Firestorm.

Arizona Christian fell 5-0 in their lone match against Concordia University Irvine on March 2, 2023. The number one pair of Misty McCall and Brianna Boeckman were the only Sandy Birds to force a third set (21-14, 22-24, 15-7) against the NCAA Division II Golden Eagles. Like last season, the two programs will square off in Irvine, California.

Wayne State College

The Wayne State College Wildcats (5-2) opened their 2024 campaign on February 26th with a win-loss split, defeating Ottawa (KS) 5-0 and falling to University of Nebraska 4-1 in Lincoln, Nebraska. They are taking a tour of Phoenix this week, having already played five matches against local schools prior to their bout with the Firestorm. WSC swept Benedictine Mesa, Park Gilbert and Mesa Community College on Monday and Tuesday, a 4-1 margin deciding each match. The Wildcats split today's matches at Arizona Athletic Grounds, downing Park Gilbert a second time (3-2) and falling 5-0 to NAIA's top dog, OUAZ.

Concordia University Irvine

The Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles (3-4) got off to a fast start with three wins on their home court (The Master's, CSUN and Saint Katherine), only dropping one set to CSUN. This past weekend, CUI competed in the Battle of LA and fell to four NCAA Division I programs (USC, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Cal) while not winning a single set. The Golden Eagles will take on Cal State LA and Vanguard this Friday before the Firestorm arrive in Irvine.

Roll Storm!

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Players Mentioned

#14 Brianna Boeckman: 5' 8"; Junior

#18 Amaya Brown: 5' 8"; Senior

#17 Haley Brown: 5' 5"; Sophomore

#15 Riley Brown: 5' 6"; Sophomore

#7 Railey Dykstra: 5' 8"; Junior

#4 Misty McCall: 5' 6"; Junior

#9 Sydney Shaw: 5' 5"; Junior

#19 Emily Katzer: 5' 7"; Freshman

#3 Eliana Cho: 5' 6"; Junior

#8 Mia Scheepens: 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#14 Brianna Boeckman
: 5' 8"; Junior

#18 Amaya Brown
: 5' 8"; Senior

#17 Haley Brown
: 5' 5"; Sophomore

#15 Riley Brown
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

#7 Railey Dykstra
: 5' 8"; Junior

#4 Misty McCall
: 5' 6"; Junior

#9 Sydney Shaw
: 5' 5"; Junior

#19 Emily Katzer
: 5' 7"; Freshman

#3 Eliana Cho
: 5' 6"; Junior

#8 Mia Scheepens
: 6' 0"; Junior

Arizona Christian University

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Protect Home Before Homecoming

Players Mentioned

#14 Brianna Boeckman

#18 Amaya Brown

#17 Haley Brown

#15 Riley Brown

#7 Railey Dykstra

#4 Misty McCall

#9 Sydney Shaw

#19 Emily Katzer

#3 Eliana Cho

#8 Mia Scheepens

Players Mentioned

#14 Brianna Boeckman

#18 Amaya Brown

#17 Haley Brown

#15 Riley Brown

#7 Railey Dykstra

#4 Misty McCall

#9 Sydney Shaw

#19 Emily Katzer

#3 Eliana Cho

#8 Mia Scheepens