The Master's beach volleyball team, ranked No. 3 in the current NAIA poll, fell to No. 1 OUAZ in the morning match but came back to defeat Park-Gilbert in the afternoon match to salvage a split on their final day of competition in Arizona.
The Sandy Stangs are now 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the GSAC.
Match 1
The defending national champion Spirit proved too strong for this year's Sandy Stangs, winning 4-1 in the first match of the day at the Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, Ariz.
The only pair to get a victory was the 2s of
Ashlan Van Groningen and
Isabela Rodriguez, winning 21-17, 17-21, 18-16.
The 1s pair of
Emma Winter and
Zoe Yates took their match to three sets before succombing 21-19, 19-21, 12-15.
"OUAZ is a very good team," said TMU Head Coach
Annett Davis. "We definitely have our work cut out for us. That's the exciting part of a season. You start at one place and see how far you can grow."
Match 2
Master's bounced back in the afternoon match getting a 5-0 win over the Park-Gilbert Buccaneers.
Every pairs team won their match in two sets.Â
Winter/Yates won the 1s pair 21-11, 21-11; Van Groningen/Rodriguez won the 2s 21-7, 21-8;
Addy Brock and
Ashlyn Unruh claimed the 3s 21-11, 21-19;
Jacklyn Gulielmana and
Kayla Goodwin were victorious in the 4s 21-15, 22-20; and
Krista Brady and
Arianna DeRaffaele stood out in the 5s 21-11, 21-10.
"We finished the tournament strong," Davis said. "We had a goal of winning all spots in straight sets and we accomplished that."
The Master's will be back home next Friday when they host La Sierra in a GSAC match that begins at 2:30 p.m. at the TMU Beach Volleyball Courts.
