A player on the Arizona Western College women's soccer team has what Matadors officials are calling the biggest signing in program history.
Linka Ono, a midfielder from Tokyo, Japan, signed with Louisiana State University on Tuesday.
AWC Athletics officials said Ono, a 2024 All-American, helped lead the Lady Matadors to back-to-back NJCAA Division I national championship games. This year, she was a team captain, named Region 1 player of the year and selected to the NJCAA DI All-Tournament team.
In a released statement, Lady Matadors head coach Victor Verdugo said "We've had many other players go to the DI level. But this is the biggest. LSU is one of the premiere college programs with one of the best coaches in the country."
Verdugo said Ono "had a good experience here and she is an example of what your journey is as a student-athlete at Arizona Western."
Ono said she enjoyed starting her college soccer career in Yuma.
"For me, coming here gave me a lot of opportunities," she said. "My first language is not English so I came here and learned English and now I can speak the language. I want to say thank you to everyone."
