Four teams took part in the first day of competition at the GSAC Beach Volleyball Championships, a double-elimination tournament in Huntington Beach, Calif., with The Master's winning their first match but falling in the second.
The Sandy Stangs, ranked No. 3 in the nation and seeded No. 2 in the tournament, took care of 3-seed and No. 5-ranked Arizona Christian 3-2 in the first match, but fell to No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seed OUAZ 2-3 in the second match.
TMU will next face ACU once again after the Firestorm eliminated Hope International Thursday afternoon. That match will start at 10 a.m. Friday morning with the winner going on to face OUAZ for the championship.
"We have one of the best conferences in the NAIA," said TMU Head Coach
Annett Davis. "Playing No. 1 and No. 5 was tough. We fought hard today, and we are looking forward to continuing to battle tomorrow with big goals in mind."
In the first match against Arizona Christian, The Master's got wins from the pairs teams of
Violet Avila/
Grace Colburn (21-16, 21-9),
Ashlyn Unruh/
Isabela Rodriguez (21-12, 10-21, 15-13) and
Ellie Niehus/
Ellie Unruh (21-14, 17-21, 15-12).
Against the Spirit of OUAZ, Avila and Colburn again won their match (21-19, 21-18), as did
Zoe Yates and
Faith Wada (21-12, 23-21). The pairs teams of Unruh/Rodriguez and Niehus/Unruh each took their matches to three sets before succumbing.
OUAZ goes straight to the championship match. Therefore, in order for The Master's to win the GSAC Championship in this double-elimination tournament, they will have to beat ACU in their morning match and then beat OUAZ twice in the afternoon.
