Tempe, Ariz.- The Arizona Christian University women's beach volleyball team competed against a pair of strong Division I opponents Saturday at the Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility, falling narrowly to Stephen F. Austin before taking on Nebraska later in the afternoon.

Stephen F. Austin 3, Arizona Christian 2
The Firestorm opened the day with a tightly contested dual against Stephen F. Austin, earning two flight victories and pushing two additional courts to three sets before the Lumberjacks secured the 3–2 win.

Arizona Christian earned its first point at the No. 3 flight where Alyssa Robles and Abigail Nelson delivered a convincing straight-set win over Annabella Howerton and Gilardi Parra de So, 21–13, 21–15. 

ACU also claimed the top court as Emily Casner and Emee Fellens closed the dual with a strong performance at the No. 1 flight, defeating Brynn Dowd and Ryann Allison in straight sets, 21–18, 21–19. 

Two additional Firestorm pairs battled deep into third sets. At No. 2, Jaiden Zeis and Jasmin Joseph pushed their match to a deciding set before falling 18–21, 21–17, 16–14, while Abby Siebert and Haley Tedrow forced three sets at the No. 4 flight before Stephen F. Austin secured the point.  
  The Firestorm returned to the sand later in the day against Nebraska, gaining valuable experience against one of the nation's top Division I programs.

Several courts were tightly contested despite the 5–0 final. At the No. 1 flight, Emee Fellens and Emily Casner forced a third set before Nebraska edged out the match 21–14, 17–21, 15–11. 

The No. 3 pairing of Alyssa Robles and Abby Nelson also opened with a set victory before Nebraska rallied to win in three sets. 

At the No. 5 flight, Kapri Espinosa and Lilly Petersen nearly forced a third set, battling late before falling in a tight 22–20 finish in the second set.  
  Arizona Christian returns home next week to compete on the new ACU Beach Volleyball Courts on campus.  Friday's match against Park Gilbert starts at 10:00 am, and another 12:00 pm contest against Wayne State. The upcoming matches will give the Firestorm an opportunity to play in front of their home crowd at the program's new on-campus sand facility as the team continues its spring schedule.