Ashland, Ore.- On Saturday, Arizona Christian Women's Volleyball upset No. 6 Southern Oregon in four sets to conclude opening weekend with a 3-1 record.  The Firestorm held off Simpson (CA) in their morning match at the the Raider Invitational.

Match Info

• Set scores v Simpson (CA)
  • Set 1: SU 25-22
  • Set 2: ACU 25-21
  • Set 3: ACU 25-15
  • Set 4: SU 25-21
  • Set 5: ACU 15-11
• Set scores v Southern Oregon
  • Set 1: ACU 25-23
  • Set 2: ACU 25-16
  • Set 3: SOU 25-20
  • Set 4: ACU 25-21
• Records: Arizona Christian - 3-1, Simpson - 0-3, Southern Oregon 2-1
• NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian, Simpson - not ranked, Southern Oregon - 6
• Location: Lithia Motors Pavilion, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR

ACU Stats v Simpson (CA)

• Brynn Golba - 18 kills, 12 digs
• Haley Tedrow - 9 kills, 7 blocks
• Zuri Reeser - 9 kills, 12 digs
• Shelby Emich - 23 assists
• Becca Thomson - 20 assists, 11 digs
• Olivia Louie - 16 digs
• Catherine Johnson - 9 blocks

Inside The Box Score v Simpson (CA)

• The opening set was a back forth ride between the teams
• Behind 7-3, ACU used a 6-0 run to take the lead
• The Red Hawks turned a 10-10 tie into a 19-16 edge
• ACU countered with a 5-0 run but would only score one point the rest of the set
• Set two played to a 19-19 tie
• Kills from Golba, Ryan Coughlin, and Lexi Wideman pushed ACU to set point
• Coughlin ended set two with a kill
• Thomson started set three with an ace
• After Simpson tied the set at 1-1, Arizona Christian took control from there
• An exchange of lead changes and ties in the fourth set saw ACU ahead 21-20
• But Simpson tallied the next five points for the set win
• Down 6-5 in the fifth, a kill by Wideman and two aces by Reagan Schouten gave the Firestorm the top score
• Arizona Christian kept the lead to the finish

ACU Stats v Southern Oregon

• Reeser - 21 kills, 11 digs
• Golba - 10 kills, hit .348
• Coughlin - 9 kills, 10 digs
• Emich - 25 assists, 11 digs
• Thomson - 16 assists, 11 digs
• Kiah Lerma - 9 digs

Inside The Box Score v Southern Oregon

• The largest lead of the seesaw first set was three (17-14- SOU)
• Behind 23-22, ACU forced two attack errors and Lerma ended the set with an ace
• SOU scored the first two points of set two
• Kills from Reeser (2) and Tedrow gave a ACU 3-2 cushion
• The Raiders tied the score at 3-3 before the Firestorm took the lead for good
• Aside from a 5-5 tie, SOU was in front the whole third set
• With set four tied at 6-6, Coughlin became a serving machine with four aces in a 7-0 run
• SOU came back with leads at 17-16 and 18-17
• Coughlin and Golba broke an 18-18 tie with kills and ACU stayed ahead to complete the upset

Thoughts from Coach Shelton
"Great weekend for the Lady Firestorm.  With adversity everywhere they refused to quit.  It was honestly a team effort.  Everybody got in and did some damage.  We stuck with a game plan, no matter what, and God smiled on us kindly.  All glory to him." 

Up Next
On Friday, Arizona Christian will travel up to Flagstaff to face off with Northern Arizona in an exhibition.