Volleyball opens crucial weekend with 3-0 win over Eastern Arizona

YUMA, Ariz. – The Arizona Western Matadors Volleyball team (13-5, 5-1) returned home and opened a big weekend with a 3-0 win over Eastern Arizona (13-9, 4-2) on Friday evening at the House Gymnasium.

Natalia Valencia-Gamboa ended the match as the Matadors' leader in kills with 10 while Gabriella Martenson ended the match with seven.

Larrynn Joseph-Rodrigues opened the match with back-to-back aces to give the Matadors an early 2-0 lead in the first set. After the teams traded the lead, the Gila Monsters opened up a three-point lead on three occasions before the Matadors used a 6-0 scoring run to take a 23-20 lead and held on for the 25-23 win in the first set.

Martensson put the Matadors up 13-11 with a kill midway through the second set and then opened the lead to 15-12 with a block. The Matadors used a run to build their largest lead of the set at 20-14. The Gila Monsters scored seven of the next eight points to tie the set up at 21-21. The Matadors pulled away for a 25-22 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Arizona Western jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the third set eventually building a 12-5 advantage. Eastern Arizona made a run to cut the Matadors' advantage to 14-12 before a Martensson kill stopped the run and the Matadors pulled away to win the final set 25-15.

Andrea Krgovic led the team in assists with 13 while Nehir Erimez chipped in with 10. Rana Yamada finished the night with 14 digs and Esther Asiedu assisted on three blocks.

The Matadors are right back at it Saturday, October 5, once again hosting Eastern Arizona at 1:00 pm at the House Gymnasium. Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for seniors while Arizona Western College students get in free with their AWC ID.