Artichokes stop Matadors cold
Playing at home for the final time this season, wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness and honoring their sophomores before the game, the Arizona Western College volleyball team pulled out all the stops in a must-win match against No. 12 Scottsdale.
Scottsdale middle blocker Rayla Doty, however, stopped the Matadors.
Doty proved to be too much in the middle for the Artichokes, coming up with many key blocks in their 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 sweep of AWC Wednesday in an Arizona Community College Athletic Conference battle at The House.
"They definitely had some strong middles, and it definitely frustrated our hitters a little bit," Glover said. "That caused us to make more mistakes than usual."
Doty had nine blocks and six kills for the Artichokes (14-8, 10-3 ACCAC). Thaci Pereira and Fernanda Costa each led the Matadors (16-15, 6-6) with seven kills, and added seven digs each. The Mats were outblocked 20-3.
The Matadors had big leads in each of the first two games. They built a 13-8 lead in the opener before the Artichokes rolled off five straight to tie. The teams remained tied on every point until 21, when Scottsdale score the last four for the win, ending on a block from Doty.
In Game 2, AWC led 14-8 but Scottsdale scored eight of the next 10. After another tie at 17, A four-point Artichoke run put them in command.
"(After the second game) they were working to see if they could pull it out," Glover said. "We go back to trying to focus on it one game at a time, one point at a time eve. That's the important thing."
But the Artichokes jumped out to a 10-2 lead, and after the Matador got to within 17-11, Scottsdale scored six straight and coasted to the win.
"Volleyball starts a lot with the passing, and when you're passing well it's a lot easier to run your offense," Glover said. "When it is not working and the passes are difficult it's harder to run your offense."
Sadie Smith had 15 digs and three aces to lead the Matadors, whose season ends Friday at Glendale.
The loss leaves Yavapai in control for the final NJCAA Division II playoff spot with three games for the Rough Riders and one for the Matadors. Any combination of two AWC losses or Yavapai wins clinches the spot or the Rough Riders.
"Every game was crucial. We were in a pressure situation and it's really unfortunate we weren't able to step up and pull out the win," Glover said. "So now all we can do is sit back and hope other people can knock off Yavapai for us."
