Phoenix, AZ- On Saturday, Arizona Christian used a nice third set to climb back into their match with Vanguard.  But the Lions held off the Firestorm in the fourth set for the 3-1 win (25-21, 25-21, 16-25, 25-23).  Junior Jackie Stein recorded a match high 14 kills.

The Firestorm (9-7, 1-4 GSAC) secured the first two points of the match- a VU service error and kill by Senior Debbie White.  But the Lions (7-6, 5-0 GSAC) earned the next four points.  A service ace from Junior Breanna Scott tied the score at 4-4.  But Vanguard moved ahead at 5-4 and did not allow even another tie until the third set.

Stein delivered 11 of the 24 ACU kills though the first two sets of the match.

Set three started with a VU kill.  However, ACU unleashed a 6-0 run thanks to a Stein kill, service ace by Senior Kinsey Pease, and two blocks from White and Sophomore Amanda Bakonyi.  ACU cruised through the rest of the set building leads as large as a 14 points to force a fourth set.

ACU only managed seven kills in the third with White a perfect 2-2 hitting but forced VU into 11 errors.  Sophomore Delaney Harris recorded two of the four ACU aces in the set.

The first 24 points of the fourth set saw just one tie and Vanguard holding a 14-10 edge.  But Arizona Christian answered with a 5-0 effort including a White kill, Pease ace, and Scott kill.  Down 20-17, a kill by Senior Alli Lemnitzer, ace by Freshman Kaitlyn Streltzoff, and additional kills from Scott and Lemnitzer helped move ACU out to a 22-21 lead.  Ties at 22-22 and 23-23 resulted in Vanguard winning the final two points to close out the set and match.

Scott ended her work with nine kills while White finished with eight kills on .375 hitting.  Blocking was big part of the night as the Firestorm rung up a season best 12.5 total denials.  Lemnitzer (six blocks with four solo) and Bakonyi (six blocks) were a big part of that effort.

Next week, the Firestorm will make their Northern California GSAC trip beginning on Friday with a 7:00 pm match at William Jessup.