Sandoval starring for unbeaten Mats
Freshman from Colombia leads ACCAC in kills
The No. 19 Arizona Western volleyball team has already exceeded its 2015 win total, and then some. The Matadors are 18-0 to start the season, including a 7-0 mark thus far in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference. Only twice has a match even gone to five sets so far in the 2016 campaign.
The most tangible change from last year’s team — which had a down year with a 12-12 overall record and a ninth-place finish in the ACCAC — is the addition of Mafe Sandoval.
Sandoval, a freshman who is the third member of the team from Cali, Colombia, is leading the conference in kills (226 total, 3.96 per set). That total is nearly 100 more than anyone else on the Matadors.
“She’s very consistent,” AWC coach Lorayne Chandler said. “She’s what you would call a utility player. You can put her anywhere, whether it’s the front row (or) the back row, and she just does a very consistent job of making sure that we do what we need to do.
“She’s obviously a very successful hitter. She’s got a very heavy arm, so she does a good job of placing the ball where nobody is. And sometimes she can place the ball directly into somebody, and that seems to get kills, too.”
AWC already had two sophomores from Colombia on the team: Karen Asprilla and Stephany Orjuela. Asprilla said Chandler asked her if she knew of any other players from back home who would be interested in coming to school in Yuma. Asprilla talked to Sandoval, who was interested.
After watching some video of Sandoval, Chandler said, “It didn’t take very long to decide that she was keeper, and we’d like to have her here.”
Sandoval, speaking in Spanish with Asprilla interpreting, said the game comes easier to her in the States. The level was higher for the Colombians back home, who played in international competitions.
“It’s kind of different, how we play back home and how we play here,” Sandoval said. “The transitions, the kind of game, everything is different; the plays that we have are different than back home. It’s kind of difficult in the beginning because we are not to used to that.”
The transition from another continent can be a challenging one, but having Asprilla and Orjuela with her at school and on the team helps ease the move.
“Internationals probably have the toughest time of everybody,” Chandler said. “Coming to the United States from a completely different culture is really tough. Obviously, they’re really excited when they first get here, but they get really homesick. We just try to make sure the other Colombians help her through; it’s really helpful having two sophomores.”
Chandler said what she likes about Sandoval is her humility. She is fine to be subbed out when AWC has a commanding lead, as has often been the case this year.
“She doesn’t feel that she has to be the star of the team,” Chandler said.
“(I) feel so proud of the team, because we are doing a really good job together,” Sandoval said. “But we still need every game.”
Sandoval and the Matadors will look to increase their undefeated record to 19-0 Wednesday when they take on South Mountain in “The House” at 7 p.m.