Greenville, Tennessee. – [SCHEDULE & RESULTS | BRACKET] The first qualifying round of the NAIA Women's Beach Volleyball Invitational took place Friday afternoon at the Greenville Beach Volleyball Courts, with teams battling through the quarterfinals to stay in the Red Banner battle.
Quarterfinal 1: Vanguard (California) def. Webber International (Florida), 3-1
The match started with a split between No. 2 and No. 4 positions. Vanguard's Maddie Nash and Madison Arnold won at two positions, while Weber International's Delaney Johnson and Abby Baxter won at four positions.
Hannah Wilmes and Emma Galloway finished the match in two sets, giving the Lions a 2-1 lead.
With two courts remaining, Weber International looked set to win in three-man position as Raini Young and Kendall Steinert took the first set and led the second. On the next court, Vanguard's Courtney Hitt and Anna Broadhead took the first set, followed by a strong 21-9 performance from the Lions in the second set.
This is the third time the Lions have advanced to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal 2: Arizona Christian def. St. Catherine (Calif.), 3-1
Arizona Christian got off to a strong start with wins in the second (Haley and Riley Brown) and fourth (Sydney Shaw and Brianna Bockman) positions.
In the next wave, Camille Harvey and Bailey Combs won the three-man position, putting St. Catherine on the board for the win.
ACU's Amaya Brown and Emily Katzer decided the match for the Firestorm in the fives position before the one's position ended the match.
The duos (Hailey Brown and Riley Brown), foursomes (Sydney Shaw and Brianna Bockman) and fivesomes (Amaya Brown and Emily Katzer) remain undefeated for Arizona Christian.
This is the first time Arizona Christian has advanced to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal 3: Corban (Oregon) def. Park (MO), 3-1
Park's Grecia Ng and Ariana Marino won their first win of the match in straight sets. Corbin's Allison Reid and Erin Scott followed closely, tying things with one game each from four positions.
A medical error forced an early end to the match on Ford's Court, leaving Corbin 2 sets to 1. 1 and 3 play continued, with Emi Marks and Nicole Buntillan replacing Corbin in the three position to decide the game. Corbin won the first set and was leading in the second, but the pair of fives could not finish the second set.
Dennis and Bischoff remain undefeated in the tournament, holding a record of 21-5 with today's quarterfinal victory.
This is the third time Corban has advanced to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal 4: OUAZ (Arizona State) def. Ave Maria (Florida State), 3-2
OUAZ achieved their first win in this match with two players in their positions (Matea Wilson and Olivia Anders). Ave Maria tied the score at one game each after Hannah Jones and Beatrice Rissi won the No. 4 position.
The two teams continued to compete, with OUAZ's Amanda Carlson and Grace Hughes in third place and Ave Maria's Abby Grose and Peyton Hyde in fifth place.
It was the final race for 1st place. The pair went to three sets to decide the match. The two sides mirrored each other, with final runs from Summer Hanks and Diana Henriques winning the set 15-12 in the third set, and the score piled up in the third set until the Spirit won.
This is the first time OUAZ has advanced to the semifinals.
The semifinals will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. ET, with the championship match following at 2 p.m. ET.