Volleyball splits pair of matches on first day of Lady Coyote Volleyball Classic

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The No. 16 ranked Arizona Western Lady Matadors Volleyball team (13-3) split a pair of matches on the first day of the Lady Coyote Volleyball Classic on Friday afternoon, losing 3-1 to No. 15 ranked Southern Idaho before beating Snow 3-0.

Evelyn Trivino had 29 assists while Ma'o Lauhingoa recorded nine kills and seven digs in the Lady Matadors' first match of the Lady Coyote Volleyball Classic, losing to Southern Idaho 3-1.

Arizona Western got off to a good start, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and scoring 15 of the first 20 points to take a 15-5 lead. The Golden Eagles went on a 10-4 run to cut the Arizona Western advantage to 19-15 and eventually tied the first set at 21-21. The Lady Matadors went on a 4-2 scoring run, finished off by a Josi Capellan kill to give the Lady Matadors a 25-23 win in the first set.

The Lady Matadors got off to a 12-7 lead in the second set but a 5-0 CSI run to cut it to 12-11 before an Amanda Juliao kill made it 13-11. Southern Idaho took a 19-18 lead before a 3-0 Arizona Western run built a 21-19 lead. The Golden Eagles scored seven of the final eight points to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 second set win. The Golden Eagles scored seven straight points early in the third set to erase a 3-0 Lady Matadors' lead. Arizona Western fell behind 10 points at 14-4 and dropped the third set 25-8.

After Southern Idaho built a 19-11 lead in the fourth set, the Lady Matadors scored seven of the next nine points to cut the deficit to 20-18. The Lady Matadors tied the set at 23-23 before Southern Idaho scored the final two points to take the match 3-1.

Martensson led the way for the Lady Matadors in a 3-0 win over Snow in the second match of the day, recording 10 kills while Trivino tallied 29 assists in the three sets.

The Lady Matadors jumped out to 5-3 lead and opened the advantage up to 13-9 before building their largest lead at 20-15. Trivino secured the first set win with a kill, giving the Lady Matadors a 25-20 win in the first set. The Lady Matadors built an early 8-4 lead on a Capellan kill and a Jazmin Cuellar ace, her second of the set. Arizona Western used a run to open a 20-12 lead and allowed just three more points, taking the second set 25-15.

Snow opened the third set with four straight points and the Lady Matadors trailed 9-6 before a Capellan kill stopped a Snow run. The Lady Matadors used a 4-0 run to grab a 10-9 lead on a Trivino ace. After falling behind by three, the Lady Matadors used an 8-0 scoring run to grab a 21-16 lead. The third set and the match ended the same way the first ended, with a Trivino kill, giving the Lady Matadors a 25-21 win in the set and a straight-set sweep of the Badgers.

The Lady Matadors continue play in the Lady Coyote Volleyball Classic in North Las Vegas, Nev., on Saturday, September 16, playing the hosts Southern Nevada at 11:00 am before playing Utah State-Eastern at 3:00 pm at Sparks Volleyball Club.