(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (3-8) opened play in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, IA.
The No. 13 seeded Aztecs fell behind in its match with No. 4 seed Johnson County Community College 2-0 but rallied to force a fifth set tiebreaker. Pima would drop the tie-breaking game and lose 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 15-7) to the Cavaliers.
Johnson County used a 9-2 run to take control of the tie-breaker that put Pima behind 12-4 before they called timeout.
The Aztecs were in danger of being swept as they trailed the third set 18-13. From there, they rallied off eight of the next nine points to take a 21-19 advantage. The Cavaliers scored the next point but back-to-back kills from freshman Haley Duncan (Walden Grove HS) and sophomore Eve Pearson (Canyon del Oro HS) gave Pima 23-20 cushion. The Aztecs closed it out three points later but still trailed 2-1 in the match.
The Aztecs trailed early in the 4th set but rallied yet again. Down 16-12, the Aztecs scored the next eight of 10 points to take a 20-18 lead. The Cavaliers tied it at 20-20 but two miscues put the Aztecs up again at 22-20. Pima found themselves tied again at 23-23 but errors cost Johnson County as the Aztecs tied the match at 2-2.
Coach’s Quote: “I was really proud of our grit and determination. It would have been easy to throw in the chips in the third set and just say, ‘we’re happy just being here,’” Pima volleyball coach Dan Bithell said. “We certainly found determination and were able to turn the game in our direction. That’s a hard thing to do.”
Pearson led the Aztecs with 13 kills, 37 total attacks and 14.5 points. She also added six digs. Freshman Kaylee Moseley (Marana HS) finished with eight kills and 30 total attacks.
Freshman Karla Soto (Nogales HS) finished with a double-double of 41 assists and 11 digs while sophomore Aydalis Felix (Rincon HS) posted 28 digs.
Sophomore Holly Stutz (Cienega HS) contributed with seven kills, five digs and two blocks while freshman Andrea Vigil-German (Ironwood Ridge HS) finished with seven kills, 31 total attacks and eight digs.
Coach’s Quote: “Johnson County is a terrific team. We did not defend their middles well in the first couple sets and they put a lot of pressure on us. They had us on our heels,” Bithell said, “We started to claw back; serve better and get in front of them. That gave us breathing room to play more comfortable the way we can. We made some key plays with key blocks and an ace. We just executed in the third and fourth sets. They made some uncharacteristic errors because of our pressure on them.
“We weren’t able to do that in the fifth set. We knew we had to get going early and it didn’t happen for us.”
The Aztecs move to the Consolation Bracket where they will play No. 12 seed Neosho County Community College on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. (CT); 10:00 a.m. (MST).
Coach’s Quote: “Obviously we’re still alive to play for a high place and that’s our goal,” Bithell said. “We’ve got to recover physically and mentally.”
Press Release courtesy of Pima Athletics – Raymond Suarez
