On Friday at the GSAC Beach Volleyball Championships held at the Arizona Athletic Grounds, Arizona Christian's Sandy Birds delivered an upset win in the semifinal before finishing runner-up in the title match.

In the morning semifinal, ACU surprised top-seeded and No. 1-ranked OUAZ with a 3-2 victory.  The Firestorm secured wins on courts one, three, and four to clinch the upset. Jasmin Joseph and Haley Tedrow provided the first team point on court four.  

After the Spirit tied the match at 1-1 to end the first wave, Emily Casner and Emee Fellens cruised at the top flight with a straight sets win by allowing the fewest points on the day. OUAZ tied the match and won the first set of the decisive threes.  But Alyssa Robles and Abigail Nelson stormed back and claimed set two 21-16 to force a winner take-all third set.  The Firestorm duo completed the semifinal victory in convincing 15-5 fashion and improved to 20-1 as a pair on the season (best winning percentage in program history).

After a short break, ACU rolled right into the championship match to face No. 4 The Master's.  The fresh legs for the Mustangs proved too much for the Firestorm to overcome as TMU secured straight-set victories in pairs two, four, and then one to clinch the GSAC title.

With the two wins in the GSAC tournament, the Firestorm appear to have punched their ticket to the NAIA Beach Volleyball Invitational for which the qualifiers will be announced on April 13.  The NAIA Invitational will be held on April 23-25 right back at the Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa.