(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (4-9) closed out the 2020-21 season on Wednesday with two thrilling matches in the second day of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
The Aztecs played 10 sets on the day as they advanced in the Consolation Bracket after beating No. 12 seed Neosho County Community College in five sets but they fell to No. 9 seed Grand Rapid Community College in another tie-breaking thriller.
(13) Pima CC Aztecs 3, (12) Neosho County CC Panthers 2 (19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-27, 16-14)
After dropping the first set, the Aztecs regrouped and took a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Panthers forced a tie-breaker but the Aztecs were able to close it out with the win.
Sophomore Bergen Campbell posted a double-double of 18 kills and 18 digs as she finished with 41 total attacks and 18 points. Freshman Andrea Vigil-German (Ironwood Ridge HS) had 14 kills and three aces finishing with 17 points.
Sophomore Aydais Felix (Rincon HS) had 19 digs and two aces while freshman Karla Soto (Nogales HS) posted 53 assists and nine digs. Sophomore Courtney Ely (Ironwood Ridge HS) and freshman Deanna Almaguer each had seven kills.
Coach’s Quote: “Neosho jumped on us and we didn’t have a great start but we responded and took care of our side of the net,” Pima volleyball coach Dan Bithell said. “It was back and forth and there was determination on both sides of the net for us. We did great things in the fifth set.”
(9) Grand Rapids CC Raiders 3, (13) Pima CC Aztecs 2 (28-26, 23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 16-14)
After some extra volleyball in the first set where the Aztecs fell short, they responded by taking the next two games.
The Aztecs had a chance to close out the Raiders as they took a 19-10 lead in the 4th set but Grand Rapids went on a 15-3 run to win the set and force the tie-breaker.
Soto posted a double-double of 36 assists and 12 digs. Freshman Kaylee Moseley (Marana HS) finished the match with 11 kills, five digs and two aces while Vigil-German also had 11 kills to go along with eight digs and a block.
Campbell finished with eight kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Holly Stutz (Cienega HS) had seven aces, four kills and four digs.
Coach’s Quote: “Grand Rapids put a lot of pressure on us. They’re a very physical team and we weren’t surprised by that,” Bithell said. “We clawed back and really controlled the match at times. It was encouraging to see us playing with confidence and dictate some really good volleyball. Losing the lead (in the fourth set) was tough to recover from. We were able to push it to extra points in the tie-breaker but we needed to make a play and didn’t get it done.”
Bithell talked about how much experience and confidence his players gained from being at the National Tournament.
Coach’s Quote: “One of the biggest lessons they learned today and this weekend was how small the margin of error is at this level,” he said. “It comes down to one or two points is the difference.
“They took a lot away this experience. Getting the opportunity to play has been special and competing against the best teams in the country. This was the first year we made it here and we appreciated that and gained a confidence from that.”
Press Release courtesy of Pima Athletics – Raymond Suarez
