(Scottsdale, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (13-13) opened play in the NJCAA Region I, Division II tournament on Thursday at Scottsdale Community College.
The No. 3 seeded Aztecs fell in straight sets to No. 2 Glendale Community College 25-22, 25-20, 26-24.
The Aztecs took a 17-16 lead in the first set after sophomore Emily Robinson (Cienega HS) put down a kill but the Gauchos (23-5) came out of the timeout and scored four straight points to take a 20-17 advantage. The Aztecs were able to cut the deficit to two points at 24-22 but surrendered the ensuing point.
The Aztecs took a 15-14 lead in the second set after sophomores Kendall Deeter (Mountain View HS) and Kaleigh Hockett (Desert Mountain HS) had blocks at the net.The Gauchos responded by scoring seven of the following eight points. The Aztecs trailed 21-16 at that point. Pima cut the deficit to two at 21-19 after back-to-back kills from Robinson and sophomore Jade Romine (Canyon del Oro HS). That’s as close as the Aztecs would get as the Gauchos took a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Aztecs were forced to play from behind again in the third set but they rallied to take a 18-17 lead after Deeter’s ace. Glendale went on to score the next five points to put Pima down 22-18. The Aztecs trailed 24-20 but rallied to tie it at 24-24. The Gauchos scored the final two points.
Freshman Savanna White (Payson HS) finished with a team-high 10 kills and five blocks. Sophomore Madi Nash (Sahuaro HS) fell short of a double-double with nine kills and a team-high 28 digs. Romine posted eight kills and 15 digs while Deeter had eight kills, three blocks and an ace. Hockett finished with a team-high 33 assists to go along with nine digs. Freshman Aydalis Felix (Rincon HS) had 21 digs.
The Aztecs will play No. 4 seeded Mesa Community College in an elimination match on Friday. First serve is at 11:00 a.m.
Courtesy of Pima Athletics
