Matadors tough in home opener

Tanya Ugaitafa had a small group of family in town from San Diego to watch her first home match as an Arizona Western College Matador, and the freshman outside hitter did not disappoint.

She and the rest of her teammates quickly turned Wednesday night's contest against Mesa into a talent show, giving Matador fans a little taste of what's to  come for the next two years in a 25-21, 25-11, 25-14 win.

"It's alive here. I really like it," Ugaitafa said of the atmosphere in The House. "Sometimes at practice we get a little frustrated and don't have any enthusiasm, and coach is always telling us we have to have intensity, concentration and enthusiasm, so they helped us out tonight."

Ugaitafa got the crowd's attention and set the standard for excellence for No. 21 AWC (2-0, 2-0 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) late in Game 1, diving near her team's bench to save a ball that eventually became a point for AWC and a 20-13 lead.

"That's volleyball. I'll do whatever it takes to keep a ball up," she said.

Ugaitafa's 10 kills were only trumped by Tanya Marshall's 13, whose quick, high leaps kept Mesa's blockers guessing all match.

AWC's Thaci Pereira unleashed seven kills with some of the hardest hits of the night, one of them coming during a 5-1 run in Game 2 to put the Matadors ahead 19-7 and force a Mesa timeout. And setters Bel Fakaosi and Ashleigh Serna kept the offense moving, only allowing the Thunderbirds one run of more than three points.

"I was pleased with the overall performance," AWC coach Karen Glover said. "We had some unforced errors we needed to work through that need to be minimized, but it was nice to see how everyone would respond, and the home crowd was great."

Mesa kept things close early in Game 3 and tried to turn the match around at 16-12 with Teale Ellis' second block of the night. But Marshall answered right back with a kill to ignite a 9-2 run to close out the match.

Ellis had four kills to lead the T-birds (0-2, 0-2 ACCAC), who have yet to win a game this season. Jenna Prescott had a game-high 11 digs for Mesa.

All 12 of the Matadors saw playing time against Mesa, each giving a sneak peek of their individual talents. Freshmen middle blockers Elina Strautniece and Bianca Muniz made their presences known up the middle with five blocks. Sadie Smith, the last to enter the match, put two of her topspin aces down for aces, and Fernanda Costa, the team's only returning starter, supplied 10 digs.

Unfortunately for Matador fans, the volleyball team's next home match won't be until Sept. 25, one of just four remaining matches at The House. AWC will catch an early flight this morning to be Utah for a weekend tournament at Salt Lake Community College, beginning with No. 19 Northeastern (Colorado) Friday.

"We'll work through it," Ugaitafa said of the extensive road schedule. "We're a unified team."