Arizona Western Volleyball drops pair of matches at Crystal Invitational

YUMA, Ariz. – The No. 20 ranked Arizona Western Matadors Volleyball team (3-2) opened up play in the Crystal Invitation in Taylorsville, Utah with a pair of 3-1 losses to No. 11 ranked Utah State Eastern and College of Southern Idaho on Friday afternoon.

The Matadors dropped the opening match of the invitation to the Golden Eagles of Utah State Eastern 3-1 despite a season-high 11 kills from freshman Larryn Joseph-Rodrigues.

Utah State Eastern took the first set 25-22 before evening the match at a set a piece by winning the second set 25-20. After dropping the third set 25-21, the Matadors were held to 10 points in the fourth set, falling 25-10.

Nahir Erimez finished one dig shy of a double-double, recording 34 assists with nine digs in the loss while Gabriela Martensson, Natalia Valencia-Gamboa, and Esther Asiedu all had nine kills.

For the second consecutive match, Joseph-Rodrigues led the team in kills, recording 10 in the four-set loss to Southern Idaho in the second match of the day.

Erimez led the team in assists with 23 while Lilou Henry-Souquet-Bressand had 12 digs with Rana Yamada finishing the match with 10.

The Matadors return to action on the final day of the Crystal Invitational on Saturday, August 31, taking on Central Wyoming and the hosts Salt Lake at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.