Greeneville, Tenn. - Arizona Christian Beach Volleyball returned to the NAIA National Invitational for the second year in a row. The ACU Sandy Birds opened pool play with a loss before winning their afternoon match.
The fifth seeded Firestorm flew across the country to face GSAC rival and top seed OUAZ and were swept by the Spirit.
Moving ahead to their afternoon match against the fourth seed Park (MO) ACU dropped the first match of wave number one. But Emily Katzer and Jaiden Zeis put the Firestorm on the board with a straight sets win at four.
Wave number two saw Haley Brown and Riley Brown give ACU a 2-1 cushion with a dominant win at the ones. The Pirates tied the match at two causing all eyes to turn to the battle happening with the threes. Abigail Nelson and Emee Fellens dropped the first set before winning the second set to force a decisive third set. The Firestorm duo rolled through the final set with a 15-7 effort.
MATCH INFO
Match One Score: OUAZ - 5, Arizona Christian - 0
Order of Finish: 2,4,5,3,1
Match Two Score: Arizona Christian - 3, Park (MO) - 2
Order of Finish: 2,4,1,5,3
Records: Arizona Christian - 12-12, OUAZ - 16-3, Park (MO) - 16-7
Location: Greeneville Beach Volleyball Complex, Greeneville, TN
MATCH ONE RESULTS
1. Summer Hanks/Amey Rainaud (OUAZ) def. Haley Brown/Riley Brown (ACU) 21-14, 21-19
2. Olivia Andersh/Eliana Dean (OUAZ) def. Brianna Boeckman/Eliana Cho (ACU) 21-17, 21-18
3. Dykstra/Amanda Carlson (OUAZ) def. Abigail Nelson/Emee Fellens (ACU) 21-17, 21-11
4. Grace Hughes/Shayna Martinez (OUAZ) def. Emily Katzer/Jaiden Zeis (ACU) 21-16, 15-21, 18-16
5. Diana Enriquez/Shea Marovich (OUAZ) def. Alyssa Robles/Kapri Espinosa (ACU) 21-9, 21-15
MATCH TWO RESULTS
1. Haley Brown/Riley Brown (ACU) def. Izabella Ceratti/Maria Pim (PUMO) 21-14, 21-6
2. Grecia Ung/Aly Anderson (PUMO) def. Brianna Boeckman/Eliana Cho (ACU) 21-12, 21-17
3. Abigail Nelson/Emee Fellens (ACU) def. Luna Martins/Mafalda Bras (PUMO) 18-21, 21-12, 15-7
4. Emily Katzer/Jaiden Zeis (ACU) def. Carla Pons Sales/Patricia Carri Ubeda (PUMO) 21-18, 21-17
5. Daniela Gomez/Angelina Rodriguez (PUMO) def. Alyssa Robles/Kapri Espinosa (ACU) 21-17, 21-16
NEXT FOR THE FIRESTORM
Day two at the NAIA National Invitational will start early again as the Firestorm will hit the sand at 7:00 am Arizona time. Depending on how they end pool play, ACU will play again at 9:30 or 11:30.
