SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The College of Southern Idaho Volleyball team fell to top-ranked Miami-Dade Friday 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20 in the Crystal Inn Invitational. The Golden Eagles defeated Laramie County earlier in the day 20-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-20 before taking on the Sharks from Florida.
Facing the undefeated and defending NJCAA National Championship Sharks, CSI seemed out of sync early. But the Golden Eagles settled in competed the rest of the way just making a few too many mistakes to pull out the victory.
Three CSI players finished the match with double-digit kills. Jojo Kruize led the way with 14 kills. Airi Miyabe added 12 and Shiloh Peleras had 11. Miyabe added 13 digs and two blocks, while Kruize had 11 digs. Peleras also had three blocks and four digs.
Earlier Friday, Miami-Dade defeated 5th-ranked Salt Lake CC in three straight sets.
CSI came out flat in game one against Laramie County. The Golden Eagles swept LCCC easily in Las Vegas last weekend but Golden Eagles of Wyoming came out with more energy than the Golden Eagles of Twin Falls Friday.
Jojo Kruize and Shiloh Peleras both had solid games for CSI. Kruize finished the match with 11 kills, five blocks and eight digs, while Peleras had 10 kills and six blocks. One of the big difference was CSI's block. Laramie County posted five blocks in set one and never had another one the rest of the match, while CSI had just one in the opening set it lost and then bounced back to record 11 blocks in the final three sets.
CSI plays 15th-ranked Northwest College Saturday at 11 a.m. and Otero Junior College at 1 p.m.