Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
By James Hernandez

The opening weekend of SWAC conference play brought two opponents to town currently ranked in the top ten of the NJCAA poll. Defending NJCAA national champion and fourth ranked College of Southern Idaho was first up for the Lady Coyotes on Thursday night followed by a Saturday afternoon clash with the eighth ranked Salt Lake City Community College Bruins.

For the first time in nearly a month coach Sue Thurman and her staff were able to get key contributors Bailey Bergquist and Olivia Larsen back on the court together.

School spirit was running wild at the den for "Coyote Blue Out" on Thursday, and the fans showed up in full force to support their Coyotes. A festive atmosphere soon turned somber as the visiting Golden Eagles used its athleticism and toughness to take the opening set (13-25). The young Coyotes were able to put the opening set of the match in its rearview mirror and compete point for point with one of the best teams in all of junior college. A back and forth second set saw both team's exchange the lead multiple times, but when it came down to the end CSI was able to will itself to the winner's circle (20-25) and grab a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. With a chance to close out the match in straight sets the Golden Eagles sprinted out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back. CSN played a spirited set especially defensively, however it was not enough to stop the hard charging Golden Eagles from taking the third and final set of the match (13-25). CSI took the match in straight sets (13-25, 20-25, 13-25), sending the Lady Coyotes to its first conference loss of the season. Match leaders for the Coyotes included JoHanna Alvarez-Thompson (11 kills), Christina Beaver (26 assists) and Kathy Hernandez (8 digs). 

The second match of the weekend, Saturday afternoon, versus the eighth ranked SLCC Bruins was another example of the depth and talent on display in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

Salt Lake used great defense and court awareness to defeat CSN (15-25) and set the tone for the entire match. Set two was almost a mirror image of the opener with the Bruins outplaying the Coyotes at the net as well as with the serve resulting in a (16-25) loss and a 2-0 match deficit. Facing an 0-2 deficit CSN picked itself off of the mat and competed with the eighth ranked team in junior college point for point, drawing as close as (20-22) before dropping the third set (21-25). SLCC outlasted CSN in straight sets (15-25, 16-25 and 21-25), dropping the Lady Coyotes to 7-11 overall and 0-2 in SWAC play. Defensive ace Hahah Karas (14 digs) led the team in digs and the dynamic duo of Christina Beaver (22 assists) and JoHanna Alvarez-Thompson (10 digs) paced the team in digs and assists.

Your Lady Coyotes hit the road this week for a Friday (9/30) match in Price, Utah versus the USU-Eastern Eagles followed by a Saturday (10/1) afternoon date in Rangely, Colorado against the CNCC Spartans.

For match times and upcoming opponents please log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Twitter @CSNCoyotes.