STERLING, Colorado – The Laramie County Community College volleyball team started strong with two wins in day one of the Pizza Hut Invitational at Northeastern Junior College.

The Golden Eagles started the day with a sweep of NJCAA DII #17 Northeast Community College. In the match, Avery Nelson (Colorado Springs, Colorado) led the team with 14 kills. Fellow sophomore Payton Stack (Casper, Wyoming) also had double-digit kills with 12. Kyle Meltzer (Fort Collins, Colorado) had 19 digs and six assists. Gwen Sheldon (Loveland, Colorado) led with 20 assists. Jessica Benedict (Wright, Wyoming) had four blocks.

LCCC would continue to play well and took a four set victory over #20 Northeastern Junior College in the second match of the day. The Golden Eagles were attacking the net with Nelson leading with a career high 20 kills and adding three blocks. Defensively, Kylie Martin (Gypsum, Colorado) led with 15 digs. Elizabeth Clark (Sandy, Utah) had nine kills and six blocks. Stack would add seven kills and freshman Jazzy Espinoza (Cheyenne, Wyoming) chipped in with six kills. Kasandra Sturges (Parker, Colorado) had 28 assists.

Coach Austin Albers spoke on day one, saying "It was great to see our team come out and compete at a high level today. I was really proud of them. We've had some bad results over the last few weeks that have caused us to reevaluate our culture and relocate our identity as a program. Our team responded to that and we found ourselves a little bit today. All 17 players were involved and engaged in their role and had an impact on our performance as a unit. Hopefully we can build off of today and keep making improvements."

Tomorrow, the Golden Eagles will play Midland College and Lamar Community College at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the final day of the Pizza Hut Invitational.