AWC's Toazzi named 2nd Team NJCAA Preseason All-American
2007 runnerup for ACCAC Player of the Year earns national acclaim on eve of regular season opener
Arizona Western College is proud to announce that AWC volleyball player Marluci ‘Luci’ Toazzi has been named to the 2008 NJCAA Volleyball Division I Preseason All-American 2nd Team list. The announcement comes just a day before Toazzi and the Lady Matadors begin their defense of their 8th straight Region I title tomorrow night against Glendale in the Phoenix area.
If it hadn’t been for Luci’s teammate, Patty Paniagua, Toazzi would’ve won the ACCAC Player of the Year Award last season in a breeze. She just narrowly missed taking home the trophy, but did earn 1st Team All-ACCAC and 1st Team All-Region I selections… to no one’s surprise. Luci was an ace in ’07-literally-since she led that category in the ACCAC from start to finish, and wound up with a .73 aces per game average. While spending much of the season learning the English language, Toazzi learned the term ‘triple-double’ just a week into the season, firing a 10 kill, 12 dig, 10 ace performance at Chandler-Gilbert on August 31st. The native of Ivoti, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil followed that performance up with 5 ‘double-double’ games (double figures in kills and digs), with season highs of 19 kills and 20 digs. Overall, Toazzi finished 7th in the ACCAC in kills (3.63 per game) and 11th in digs (4.07 per game). Luci’s .300 hitting percentage put her 7th-best in the league in that category. Luci’s work in the classroom was incredible as well. Her 4.0 grade point average during the 2007 fall semester was one of the main reasons that the Lady Matadors earned a spot on the NJCAA Fall Academic Team of the Year list, and her 3.786 cumulative GPA for the 2007-08 school year gives her a great head start in possibly becoming an NJCAA Academic All-American next summer.
Toazzi and the Lady Matadors will get back-to-back stern tests to kick off the 2008 regular season. Tomorrow night, the Mats will face off against the 7th-ranked team in the NJCAA Division II Preseason Poll and last year’s Region I DII runners-up, the Glendale Lady Gauchos, before heading across the city of Phoenix on Saturday to battle the 15th-ranked Scottsdale Lady Artichokes. Both matches will start at 7PM in the Phoenix area. The Lady Matadors will finally come back to ‘The House’ for their home opener a week from tomorrow, Friday, August 29th, as they’ll take on the Eastern Arizona Lady Gila Monsters in a rematch of last year’s Region I Division I Finals. It will be a special 5PM starting time for that match. Tickets for that match are just $5 for adults; $3 for seniors, military personnel and kids ages 12-17. AWC students, NAU-Yuma students, kids ages 12 and under, and Matador Athletic Association members get in for free each night.
Arizona Western College is proud to announce that AWC volleyball player Marluci ‘Luci’ Toazzi has been named to the 2008 NJCAA Volleyball Division I Preseason All-American 2nd Team list. The announcement comes just a day before Toazzi and the Lady Matadors begin their defense of their 8th straight Region I title tomorrow night against Glendale in the Phoenix area.
