Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
By James Hernandez 

The College of Southern Nevada began its week by playing its third consecutive top twenty opponent in the USU-Eastern Eagles Thursday evening, concluding play versus the CNCC Spartans on Saturday afternoon.

CSN came into Thursday's match with the Eagles determined to get over the hump and earn its first match victory in conference as well as down its first ranked opponent of the season. The opening set was an extremely competitive affair that the Eagles were lucky to claim as they held on for a (21-25) victory that could have either way. Undaunted by dropping its opening set the Lady Coyotes fought back to claim sets 2 and three by identical (25-23) scores to take a 1 set lead over its conference rival. USU-Eastern edged out CSN (20-25) in the fourth set of the match to set up a winner-take-all fifth and final set. With both teams visibly fatigued following four grueling sets it was the Eagles who were able to dig deep and muster just enough energy to slip past the Lady Coyotes (9-15) in the matches deciding set. Utah State University-Eastern escaped Southern Nevada with a five set victory, despite another stellar effort from this young group of Lady Coyotes. Match standouts for CSN included Lexi Riggs and Rachel Chambers with 14 kills apiece as well as Logan DeLong (26 assists) and Esmeralda Solano (29 digs).


Saturday afternoon was the first time in three matches that a ranked opponent was not staring across the net from the Lady Coyotes as they looked to win its first conference game of the season. Unfortunately for Southern Nevada, a markedly improved CNCC team had other ideas. The Spartans set the tone early by claiming the opening set (16-25) and setting the tone for the remainder of the match. CSN fought back in a competitive second set, however it was not enough as the Spartans scored some clutch points down the stretch to claim a (20-25) victory in set number two. Set three included some clutch play around the net for CNCC as they cruised to a straight set victory over CSN (16-25, 20-25 and 14-25) to claim the teams tenth match victory of 2017. Standouts for your Lady Coyotes included Kathy Hernandez (6 kills) Logan DeLong (9 assists) and Esmeralda Solano (10 digs).

Fans your Lady Coyotes will be in Ephraim, Utah Saturday to battle the Snow College Badgers in a SWAC showdown. For match time and updates log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Twitter @CSN_Vball and Facebook CSNCoyotes.