Volleyball falls to Southern Idaho 3-0 in Rocky Mountain A District title match

YUMA, Ariz. – The No. 20 Arizona Western Lady Matadors Volleyball team (22-8) fell short in the Rocky Mountain A District Championship Game, losing 3-0 to College of Southern Idaho (25-8) on Monday night at the House Gymnasium.

Evelyn Trivino finished the match with a double-double, recording 23 assists and 10 digs in the loss while Amanda Juliao also tallied 10 digs.

The Lady Matadors built an early 5-4 lead in the first set but would not be able to regain the lead as Southern Idaho jumped out to a 9-5 lead thanks to a 5-0 scoring run. Southern Idaho held a 17-13 lead before Arizona Western went on a 3-0 scoring run to pull within one point. The Lady Matadors trailed by one point twice more, trailing 20-19 and 22-21 before the Golden Eagles held on for the 25-21 win the set one.

Arizona Western had a 4-0 scoring run to grab a 4-3 lead in the second set but Southern Idaho pulled back in front, opening up a 17-11 lead. The Lady Matadors climbed back to within three points at 20-17 before Southern Idaho finished the set off 25-18.

After Southern Idaho scored the first two points in the third set, the Lady Matadors used a 5-0 run and took a 5-2 lead on a Jazmin Cuellar kill. The Lady Matadors held their second three-point advantage of the set at 10-7 after a Southern Idaho attacking error before the Golden Eagles stormed back to tie the set at 14-14 and went on to take the final set 25-20.

Juliao led the Lady Matadors in kills with 12 while Gabriela Martensson had eight kills in the loss. The Lady Matadors will now wait to see if they will receive one of four at-large bids into the NJCAA DI Volleyball Championship.