CSI faces top-tier competition during the Starr Corporation Invitational

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — It was a week full of volleyball at the College of Southern Idaho as CSI hosted the Starr Corporation Invitational with a collection of top-20 ranked teams in play.

Since Thursday, the Golden Eagles had already shared the floor with three top 20 ranked teams, including number three New Mexico Military Institute.

Coming into Saturday, CSI had one win in the invitational and opened the afternoon with a victory, in straight sets, over unranked Western Wyoming Community College.

Then, they faced number 12 Missouri State University West Plains and it was a battle throughout.

But Missouri won the match in straight sets.

One spotlight was the performance by Alizaysha Sopi who spoke with KMVT after the match to talk about her team’s performance so far this season.

“The results aren’t what we wanted but we definitely came out here, showed that we can go far with this team,” said Sopi. “I feel like we’re a really great team, so I’m really excited for this year. Yeah, we’re ready.”

Both players and head coach Bill Cartisser tell me they were happy to see how the team fared against elite national competition.

He said once their team is again at full strength they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

“Four starters are not playing so we had to change our lineup almost every day, but the kids battled through,” said Cartisser. “As I said, we had some really good individual performances and played some really good volleyball. What it came down to in the end is that we weren’t as consistent as some of the teams that we played.”

The Golden Eagles now travel to Baytown, Texas for the Lee College Volleyball Invitational. Two matches next Friday, first Wharton County Junior College and then Navarro College.

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