Volleyball wins twice on first day of Dalton Overstreet Invitational

YUMA, Ariz. – Arizona Western Volleyball (9-2) kicked off the Dalton Overstreet Invitational with a pair of wins on Friday afternoon, beating Copper Mountain (0-1) 3-0 before finishing the day with a 3-0 win over Central Arizona (0-6) at Walraven Gymnasium in Prescott.

Jazmin Cuellar led the Lady Matadors to a 3-0 win over Copper Mountain in the first match of the day, recording a career-high 13 aces while Evelyn Trivino led the team in assists with 13.

The Lady Matadors opened up an 11-point advantage at 15-4 in the first set on back-to-back Aly Reeser aces. The Lady Matadors allowed just eight points in the set, taking the opening set 25-8. Arizona Western jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second set and scored 10 of the first 12 points. The Lady Matadors outscored Copper Mountain 13-4 over the final 17 points to take the second set 25-6. After falling behind early in the third set, the Lady Matadors went on a run to open an 11-3 lead, forcing a Copper Mountain timeout. Copper Mountain wouldn't score another point as the Lady Matadors cruised to a 25-3 win in the third set, taking the match 3-0.

Amanda Juliao finished the match with eight kills as the Lady Matadors ended the match with a .368 attacking percentage.

A Gabriela Martensson kill put the Lady Matadors up 16-8 in the first set, using a run to pull away from the Vaqueras. After Central Arizona cut the Lady Matadors' lead to 17-11, Martensson stopped the run with a kill as the Lady Matadors finished off the first set with a 25-15 win. The Lady Matadors opened the second set by scoring the first three points and opened up an 11-point lead at 19-8, forcing a Central Arizona timeout. The Lady Matadors took a 2-0 lead in the match, taking the second set 25-13.

Central Arizona stormed out quickly in the third set, taking a 9-4 lead before Arizona Western was forced to take a timeout. The Lady Matadors battled back to take a 16-15 lead on a Josi Capellan and Martensson block. Arizona Western finished the match off with a 25-18 win in the third set, winning the match 3-0.

Martensson finished the match with 11 kills while Trivino led the team with 28 assists.

The Lady Matadors play their final match of the Dalton Overstreet Invitational on Saturday, September 2, taking on Copper Mountain at 11:00 a.m.