Landing in the Region Finals in each of the last four seasons, including a district finals appearance last year, the Arizona Western Lady Matador Volleyball program completed its first quarter-century of existence by extending its run of success.
The foundation of the program's legacy began when Kerry Messersmith inherited the program in its infancy and turned it into a perennial national contender. Messersmith, who had a pedigree in turning around programs at Pittsburg State and Chadron State, rocketed the Matadors to success and improved on the team’s win total in each of her four seasons. The 2000 squad was Messersmith’s final campaign in Yuma, but the first NJCAA Championship appearance for the program, after a 43-win season that included the first Region Championship for Matador Volleyball.
Former UTEP assistant James Finley carried the momentum forward with four more Region I Championships including three more trips to the NJCAA Tournament in just four seasons. Finley’s time at Arizona Western was the most successful continuous stretch of the program’s history and was carried on by two more head coaches in the next three seasons, with the Matadors racking up a total of eight consecutive region championships from 2000 until 2007.
That stretch ended with the departure of Jason Smith, who had revamped the roster in 2006 before posting consecutive 20-win seasons prior to departing for UNLV.
The Matadors' string of Region I Championship appearances ended during Smith’s two years away from AWC but he returned in 2010 and posted five straight winning seasons while leading three more Region I Championship teams to two NJCAA Appearances. Maria del mar Guzman Franco was the ACCAC Player of the Year as a freshman in 2013 and earned All-American Honors.
Smith was named the District Coach of the Year twice, in 2013 and 2014, while becoming the winningest coach in Matador program history with 137 wins and 5 Region titles.
Smith’s top assistant in 2014, Lorayne Chandler, took the reins prior to the 2015 season. In just her second season, Chandler was named both District and Conference Coach of the year while guiding the Matadors to a 26-4 mark, the highest winning percentage in school history while nabbing a share of the conference title. The Lady Matadors moved on to win the RegionI title and a trip to the NJCAA National Tournament in 2016. The success garnered Chandler a place on the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s top 30 under-30 coaches in the country.
Chandler was recognized as the Co-Coach of the Year in the ACCAC after another Region Championship in 2018. The 2018 squad boasted NJCAA All-American Yeny Montoya Murillo and ACCAC Libero of the Year Neyshlian Roman Concepcion. The success of the 2018 squad was rooted in their depth as all nine sophomores transferred to four-year schools with eight continuing their volleyball careers.
The 2019 squad reached the Region I Final behind 2nd Team NJCAA All-American Melissa Garciglia Banuelos, who set the school record in aces with 64, while leading a team that was deep on the service line. Garciglia Banuelos moved on to Cal State San Bernardino (CA), while teammates Jovanna Papaz and Laolive Tonga transferred to the University of San Diego (CA) and Dixie State (UT), respectively.
Their debuts at their new schools, as was the case with the fall 2020 season for the Matadors were delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic, moving the NJCAA Volleyball schedule to the spring of 2021. Even a global pandemic could not disrupt the Matadors' string of Region Final appearances, as AWC overcame a daunting non-conference schedule that saw them travel to tournaments that matched them up with six ranked opponents in their first eight matches. The Mats went 6-3 in conference before concluding the season in Prescott, AZ at the Region I Final.
The Lady Matadors were able to avenge their loss in the Region I final the next season, beating Yavapai to earn a trip to the Southwest B district championship game. The Matadors won 17 games in 2021, their most wins since the 2018 season, finishing with a 17-8 record and a 10-3 ACCAC mark.
After a slow start to the season, the Matadors went on a stretch of 14 wins over their next 16 games after starting 2-4. Anny Montaño continued her stellar career, earning her second consecutive All-American honor, leading the Matadors in kills with 266.
After losing the regular season finale to Yavapai, the Matadors came back a few days later to beat the Roughriders in the Region I championship game 3-2 before falling to New Mexico Military Institute in the Southwest B district title game. After a slow start to the season in 2022, the Lady Matadors went on a run, winning 11 games in a row to finish second in the ACCAC and earning a spot in the Region I final for the fifth consecutive season, falling short to Eastern Arizona.
In 25 years of Matador Volleyball, the program has reached the Region Final 21 times as the Matadors are looking to take another step in 2022 and reach the NJCAA national tournament for the first time since the 2016 season.