Quick Hitters
AWC volleyball finishes 3-1 at CSN Classic in Vegas
After a 2-0 showing on day one of the CSN Classic is Las Vegas on Friday, the Arizona Western volleyball team went 1-1 on Saturday.
The Matadors beat Western Nebraska in four sets (25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 25-21) and lost to Salt Lake in three (21-25, 16-25, 20-25).
Haylee Paladini (21 kills, 4 blocks), Lisbeth Martinez (11 kills, 5 blocks), Yenny Montoya Murillo (10 kills) and Teuila Lolotai (46 assists) led the way in the win over Western Nebraska.
Mayweather says he and Pacquiao will fight
LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he’s coming out of retirement again to fight Manny Pacquiao for a second time in December.
Mayweather posted a video on Instagram early Saturday that showed him and Pacquiao together, reportedly in Japan, jawing at each other over a possible second fight.
“I’m coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year,” Mayweather said. “Another nine-figure pay day on the way.”
Whether the fight actually happens remains to be seen. There are no promotional barriers between the two men, because Mayweather promotes himself and Pacquiao is a boxing free agent.
Oddsmakers at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook immediately made Mayweather a 2-1 favorite.
Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in May 2015 in a massively hyped fight that was largely panned by most boxing fans. The bout delivered a record 4.6 million pay-perview buys, and Pacquiao blamed an injured shoulder for landing only 81 punches in the fight.
Mayweather, who has won all 50 of his fights, last fought a year ago when he stopped Conor McGregor, the UFC star who was in his first professional boxing match. The 41-year-old Mayweather reportedly made more than $200 million for that fight, on top of a reported $300 million for his win over Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, the Filipino star who will be 40 in December, lost to unheralded Jeff Horn last year before rebounding with a win over Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia last month.
Representatives for the two fighters could not immediately be reached for comment.
It was probably a lot uglier than anyone involved would have wished for, but Arizona Western was able to sneak away with a victory in a match up of two top-10 teams.
The No. 9 Matadors (2-1 overall) had to come from behind with a late touchdown to escape with a 16-13 win over No. 8 Eastern Arizona (2-1) Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. AWC had to play through a slew of mistakes to get to this point.
“We are a work in progress and if we can’t do things totally right, then we’re going to get beat,” AWC coach Tom Minnick said. “When we do stupid things, we’re going to get beat. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to haunt us, like it almost did tonight.”
AWC: 2-1 overall EAC: 2-1 overall
AWC quarterback Logan Byrd broke loose on a zone read from 12 yards for the go-ahead score with 4:44 left in the game. Prior to that, the Mats struggled to find consistency all night on offense.
“We just kept battling,” Byrd said. “When they scored that (go-ahead) touchdown (in the third quarter) I told the guys that it had to be our turn. The defense was playing really well. We were kind of shoot-