AWC - (12) Scottsdale volleyball preview
(12) Scottsdale at Arizona Western
First serve: 7 p.m. today, The House
Media: TV - AWC-TV; Radio - KBLU 560 AM; Internet - www.azwestern.edu/athletics
Last game: AWC lost to Yavapai in five games on Saturday at The House. Scottsdale beat Chandler-Gilbert 3-0 on Friday at home.
Records: AWC (16-14 overall, 6-5 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Scottsdale (22-13 overall, 5-5 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Matador hitter Fernanda Costa will be one of two sophomores playing their final home match at AWC. ... The Artichokes' front row of Rayla Doty, Erin Flake and Taryn Salum rank first, second and sixth in the conference in blocks per game.
AWC coach Karen Glover's comments: "Not having played (Scottsdale) we haven't had a chance to see their blockers, but that's something we've worked on in practice this week. ...We just need to focus on the task in front of us and the match were playing, play hard and come away with a win. The players know where we stand and that we need two wins."
The lowdown: Hosting the final tri-match of the year against Eastern Arizona and Yavapai did not help AWC's cause over the weekend. The Matadors lost both matches, and subsequently lost control of their playoff fate to the Roughriders. ...One of the bright spots from the weekend was freshman hitter Andrea Marshall, who led the team in kills both nights with 28 overall. "She did a great job," Glover said of Marshall. "We adjusted our lineup a bit to give some more time to more of our hitters and she made the most of it." ...A pair of AWC wins this week would force Yavapai to win all three of its remaining matches to get into the Region I final next week. Neither team has any easy road, as four of their five combined matches are against Division-II teams who are in a tight race for their own playoff spots. ...Scottsdale is ahead of Glendale in the standings, but both teams have three losses and the Gauchos own the tiebreaker. ...The Matadors have lost their last six matches (four against ranked teams) and have not beaten and ACCAC opponent since Sept. 25 against South Mountain. The Artichokes come to Yuma on a four-match win streak. ... Along with Costa, sophomore transfer Sadie Smith will be honored before tonight's game. AWC's third sophomore at the start of the season - Yuma High alum Maggie Zamudio - left the team earlier in the season. "Her priorities changed, and she decided it was best to focus on other things," Glover said. ...The Matadors will be wearing pink tie-dyed uniforms for breast cancer awareness tonight.
