Sandoval leads freshman-heavy AWC squad

Reigning Region I champ Matadors returns All-American, only 1 other sophomore

Roster turnover is often a focal point when previewing a juniorcollege sports team. And a roster of two sophomores and 10 freshmen usually stands out as a possible down year.

However, one of those two sophomores was the Conference Player of the Year and an All-American, so the Arizona Western volleyball team and coach Lorayne Chandler can breathe a little easier as they begin their season tonight at Scottsdale at 7 p.m.

The sophomore stud coming back is outside hitter Mafe Sandoval, who wowed competition in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference last year as a freshman out of Cali, Colombia.

After their season-opening, 3-1 win last year against Scottsdale, “the head coach there was like, ‘Your No. 14 just blew us away,’” Chandler said. “Her presence alone, her warmup even, is enough to kind of get the other team a little bit off-balance, which is fortunate for us.” Sandoval’s 3.39 kills per set last season were second in the conference. Chandler hopes for more of the same.

“We expect big things out of her,” Chandler said. “If we can keep the injuries to a minimum, I think she’s going to be very instrumental.”

As for how she impacts the rest of the team, there is still a language barrier as a Spanishspeaker from Colombia, so Chandler said her leadership is more by example.

“A lot of the girls strive to be like her in the way that she plays,” Chandler said, later adding, “It puts a lot of pressure on the other girls because she’s so good. Other girls want to try to