Scottsdale, AZ – The first rounds of the Scottsdale Classic Invitational kick off today in Scottsdale, Arizona and NJCAA DII's #3 GRCC is expecting to face tough competition from Region I's Division I Eastern Arizona and Division II South Mountain Community Colleges.

The Raiders enter today's 4:30PM MST contest with a 8-2 overall record on a four game win streak after knocking off Lansing and Kalamazoo Community Colleges in conference play as well as Columbus State and now #2 Parkland Community College.

GRCC's first match pairs them up with 6-5 Eastern Arizona College Gila Monsters.  While just over .500, several of the Gila Monster's losses have come by way of ranked DI teams including #11 Salt Lake, #10 Arizona Western, #8 College of Southern Idaho and Odessa College who, while unranked, received votes in the last NJCAA DI poll.

The Gila Monsters  are led offensively by freshmen Jandra Fabian who recorded 89 kills and Shiann White with 96.

At 7:00PM the Raiders face 4-4 South Mountain Community College.  The South Mountain Cougars are led by Freshman outside Sara Westerman who has 84 kills and 56 digs.  Westerman is trailed by another freshman outside, Rachael McCue with 61 kills and 11 total blocks in 2013.

GRCC is led in kills by sophomore Emily Johnson and freshman Abbie Gortsema  but several Raiders have made an impact on the court this season.   As the lineup continues to change expect to see some tremendous play off the bench as this young Raider team competes for time on the floor.

For updates during match play follow GRCCAthletics on Twitter and check back here for complete box scores and season statistics.