Huntington Beach, Calif. - A 2-0 deficit proved too high of a mountain to climb, as Arizona Christian fell 3-2 to 1-seed OUAZ and was eliminated from the 2024 GSAC Beach Volleyball Tournament on the doorstep of the championship match. Four-seed Vanguard then defeated OUAZ 4-1 in the title game to cement a fourth consecutive conference championship.
Amaya Brown/Emily Katzer put the finishing touches on a 3-0 performance at Brookhurst Courts with a two-set victory (21-12, 21-15) to give the Firestorm a puncher's chance with the one and three pairs still competing. The duo secured their 11th win over a GSAC opponent and 18th of the season (18-9, 11-2 GSAC).
Following a competitive first set (21-17), Eliana Cho/Railey Dykstra were doubled up in the second and ACU was officially out of the match. Mia Scheepens/Misty McCall would not go winless in the tournament as they knocked off the Spirit's one pair (21-15, 21-19) for the second straight match (2-1 win on March 30th).
MATCH INFO
Score: #3 Arizona Christian 2, #1 OUAZ 3
Order of Finish: 2,4,5,3,1
Location: Brookhurst Courts - Huntington Beach, CA
Time: 10:00 AM
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
OUAZ 3, ACU 2
1. Mia Scheepens/Misty McCall (ACU) def. Summer Hanks/Diana Enriquez (OUAZ) 21-15, 21-19
2. Olivia Andersh/Mattea Wilson (OUAZ) def. Haley Brown/Riley Brown (ACU) 21-17, 21-13
3. Grace Hughes/Amanda Carlson (OUAZ) def. Eliana Cho/Railey Dykstra (ACU) 21-17, 21-10
4. Dayana Raygoza/Shea Marovich (OUAZ) def. Sydney Shaw/Brianna Boeckman (ACU) 21-16, 21-16
5. Amaya Brown/Emily Katzer (ACU) def. Leah John/Gabriela Corrales (OUAZ) 21-12, 21-15
NEXT FOR THE FIRESTORM
Arizona Christian has to wait till Monday afternoon to find out if their postseason will continue in Greeneville, Tennessee. Without a conference title, the Firestorm are dependent on an at-large bid. The NAIA will announce qualifiers for the 2024 NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball Invitational (April 25-27) on April 15th by 5:00 PM CT/3:00 PM MST on naia.org. Stay up to date with ACU Beach Volleyball by following @acufirestorm on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and checking out @firestorm_bvb on Instagram.
Roll Storm!
