SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The #18 CSI Volleyball team suffered their first loss of 2026 as part of a two match split, falling to New Mexico Junior College 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 26-28 before bouncing back in the latter half of the day, knocking off Central Arizona 25-21, 25-15, 25-16.
Fresh off of their unbeaten weekend in Iowa, the Golden Eagles got knocked back right out of the gate as 19th-ranked New Mexico took the first set, before CSI bounced back to take the second set. Ultimately, 13 service errors came back to hurt the Golden Eagles as they eventually dropped a very back and forth fourth and final set.
Emma Pannell and
Laura Grasel, a pair of freshman, paced the Golden Eagles on offense, each finishing with 12 kills in the loss. Reigning Conference Defensive Player of the Week,
Emerson Heatwole, led the way with 16 digs, while
Dalayni Brindley and
Mary Irwin had 27 and 24 assists respectively.
"NMJC is a solid program and played very well against us," said CSI Head Coach
Andria Parker. "We just couldn't get firing on all cylinders. We will bounce back and be ready for our next match"
The Golden Eagles did just that in nightcap, as they bounced back in a big way, cruising to a three set sweep over Central Arizona.
CSI was able to find their groove on offense, finishing the night with 40 kills on 93 attempts, good for a .337 hitting percentage.
Brinley Bybee led the attack with a new collegiate career high 15 kills, while
Nana Lobzhanidze chipped in seven kills. Heatwole once again racked up a team high in digs with 18, while Brindley dished out 21 assists and a pair of service aces.
The Golden Eagles will jump right back into action tomorrow morning with a marquee match up as they will face off with 4th-ranked Weatherford College at 9:00 a.m. before finishing the weekend at 11:30 a.m. when they take on Central Wyoming.
