Third-seeded TMU Beach Volleyball was upset by sixth-seeded Arizona Christian University, 3-2, in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament, spoiling the Mustangs' first-ever postseason appearance.
No. 4 pairing
Emilye Grace Williams and
Annika Booker (21-8, 21-16) and No. 5 duo
CJ Catabona and
Gwen Garate (17-21, 21-16, 15-13) picked up points for Master's.
Williams' and Booker's victory evened the match at one apiece, after ACU won the matchup at number two over
Kasie Spencer and
Evi Yates (21-15, 21-14).
After trailing, 2-4, Williams and Booker only conceded four points the rest of the set to win in runaway fashion.
"We let them get a couple points and then we talked to each other and said, 'No more,'" Williams said. "Then we started serving aggressively and making them move on serve-receive. We were really controlled with our first two touches, which helped us find the court.
"We played loose and confident and just focused on the next point."
Williams and Booker, who were named NAIA Pair of the Week on March 8, scored 19 of the next 23 points to overcome the early deficit.
"It gave us a lot of confidence," Booker said of winning the first set in such convincing fashion. "We talked on the bench between games and said, 'Let's just finish this one so we can go cheer on our team.'"
The duo did just that, tying for the team lead with their 10th win of the season as a pairing.
"I've always loved playing with her. She was my number one pick to play with," Williams said of her partnership with Booker. "I love her grit on the court. She does not let a ball drop and that's fun to see. It makes me want to play better for her."
Booker added: "I'm very hard on myself and she's always there to pick me up. We're always there for each other and that helps to keep the chemistry up."
While Williams and Booker had the benefit of playing the entire season together, Catabona and Garate had only three days of practice as a pairing leading up to the conference tournament.
Despite the lack of playing together, TMU's fifth duo came back from losing the first set to win in three.
After trailing the opening set 2-7, Catabona and Garate fought back to tie before ACU pulled away to take the lead. Catabona then turned the tide with strong serving to open the second set.
"In the second set what made the difference was starting off 8-0," Catabona said. "That first serving streak and run definitely brought our confidence up."
A pep talk from assistant coach
Amy Suppes between sets helped spark the strong start to the second.
"Coach Amy gave us a piece of advice before we played the second set of just playing our game and giving everything that we have," Garate said. "That's why we were able to pull through in the second and third set."
In the middle of their third stanza, ACU clinched the overall match by winning the matchup at number one, but TMU's victory at number five made the score much more indicative of how close the first-round contest really was.
Number three pairing
Tara Long and
Kaylie Phelps, as well as top duo
Chloe Johnson and
Kassidy Wilson came painfully close to extending their matchups to a third set.
After falling 16-21 in the first, Long and Phelps again trailed 16-18 in the second set. The duo then responded with three points in-a-row to take the lead and prompt an ACU timeout. TMU then earned a double set point by scoring upon the resumption of play, only for the Firestorm to respond with three-straight points of their own to set up match point.
Long's kill to the back corner saved ACU's first match point, but the Firestorm scored the next two to claim the contest by a 23-21 margin in the second set.
Johnson and Wilson fell on the wrong side of a marathon first set, 25-27, which is the most points contested in a single set in program history. Johnson's ace gave the Mustangs the first of two set points they had, but ACU saved both before rallying late to take an important lead.
Then the Firestorm won a similarly close second set, 21-19, clinching the overall match victory.
Master's (10-13 overall), ranked fourth in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll, will now wait to see if it receives one of three at-large berths into the inaugural NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball National Invitational April 21-23 in Panama City, Florida.
