MESA, Ariz. – The No. 3-ranked Corban University Beach Volleyball team continued their postseason excellence at the NAIA National Invitational by completing a day one sweep in their Pool B dual matchups, as they easily handled No. 7-ranked Arizona Christian University behind four flight sweeps before completing a ridiculous reverse sweep of No. 6-ranked New College of Florida. The Warriors utilized sweeps at the 1s, 2s, 4s, and 5s to down ACU, while the second pairings to compete across courts one, two, and three all clinched three-set stunners over their respective NCF opponents.
"A very exciting day of competition between the strongest eight teams we've ever seen at the national tournament," Corban head coach Dan Stephens explained regarding today's postseason action. "We came out strong against ACU right away and then we battled against a very strong and fundamental New College of Florida team that challenged us. It was a great team effort to pull off the reverse sweep, and it showed us what we are capable of achieving. Tomorrow, we face The Master's University who we split with at the start of the season, and that will be a challenging match to start our day."
Having played against Arizona Christian (13-15) in each of the past three postseasons, the Warriors (26-7) kicked off their 2026 NAIA National Tournament with a dominant 4-1 decision over the Firestorm, jumping out to a 2-0 lead thanks to sweeps at both the 2s and 4s before clinching via a straight-set sweep for the fifth-overall duo of junior Jordan Faircloth and sophomore Rebecca Wilber.
In their afternoon session, the Navy and Gold had to dig deep in order to remain undefeated on opening day, as the tourney first-year Banyans (14-4) had already clinched an upset over No. 2-ranked The Master's University in stunning fashion and continued that momentum into their matchup with the Dubs by claiming both the 2s and 4s in sweeping fashion. However, the Warriors are never out of any matchup, and were able to dig and claw their way back to claim their second victory of the day via reverse sweep.
Senior Emmi Marks and junior Emma Bischoff started the comeback bid off with a three-set victory where they rolled to a 15-9 third set win, who were then replicated by Faircloth and Wilber in the fifth pairing where they clinched via a 15-8 third set score. The comeback of the day belonged to the third flight for Corban, as they overcame a heartbreaking 24-22 first set loss to take both the second and third sets via 21-18 and 15-10 scores.
Pool B – Dual 1 | #3 Corban 4, #7 Arizona Christian 1
1. Emmi Marks/Emma Bischoff (CRB) def. Emily Casner/Emee Fellens (ACU) 21-15, 21-8
2. Gabi Engels/Allyson Reid (CRB) def. Jaiden Zeis/Abby Siebert (ACU) 21-15, 21-10)
3. Alyssa Robles/Abigail Nelson (ACU) def. Cammie Masanda/Alexis Adebodun (CRB) 21-7, 21-9
4. Erin Scott/Emily Blagg (CRB) def. Jasmin Joseph/Haley Tedrow (ACU) 21-9, 21-10
5. Rebecca Wilber/Jordan Faircloth (CRB) def. Kapri Espinosa/Lilly Petersen (ACU) 21-13, 21-11
Pool B – Dual 2 | #3 Corban 3, #6 New College of Florida 2
1. Emma Bischoff/Emmi Marks (CRB) def. Cassidy Casey/Olivia Fenstermaker (NCF) 21-14, 21-23, 15-9)
2. Kayla Gentry/Jayden Ponsford (NCF) def. Gabi Engels/Allyson Reid (CRB) 21-17, 21-18
3. Cammie Masanda/Alexis Adebodun (CRB) def. Alba Romanos Garcia/Jayleen Santiago (NCF) 22-24, 21-18, 15-10
4. Camilla Vaerini/Soroya Nacero (NCF) def. Erin Scott/Emily Blagg (CRB) 21-14, 21-16
5. Rebecca Wilber/Jordan Faircloth (CRB) def. Marian Saba/Malu Barreis (NCF) 21-16, 22-24, 15-8
Tomorrow morning, the Warriors will battle No. 2-seeded The Master's (19-7) for the top spot in Pool B, where a victory would earn Corban the Pool B No. 1-ranking in the reseed that will be completed for bracket play that begins later that afternoon. Their quarterfinal opponent will be determined on both the results of Pool A and Pool B, either to be played at 2:30pm or 4:30pm tomorrow afternoon.
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