(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (5-16, 2-9 in ACCAC) suffered its fifth straight loss on Friday at Eastern Arizona College (18-8, 6-3).
The Aztecs fell to the Gila Monsters in straight sets 25-20, 25-17, 25-23. Eastern Arizona College took both meetings this season as the teams locked up in non-conference play back in August where Pima lost in the fifth-set tiebreaker.
The teams traded points to open the first set but the Aztecs fell behind 14-8. They rallied to take nine of the next 12 points to tie it up at 17-17. Sophomores Jessica Bright-Schade (Safford HS) and Isabel Hansen (Rincon HS) got the rally started with back-to-back kills. Freshman Jalynn Ransom (Salpointe Catholic HS) had an ace to cut the deficit to two points. Sophomore Isabella Jacome tied it at 17-17 with her ace. The Gila Monsters took the advantage back with the next two points. Sophomore Haley Duncan’s (Walden Grove HS) kill made it 20-19 but Eastern Arizona scored three straight points to help put it away.
The Aztecs held a slim lead for the first part of the second set. They led by as much as three points when Eastern Arizona hit a couple shots out of bounds and Bright-Schade had a kill to put Pima up 13-10. They matched the lead margin again after Jacome and sophomore Deanna Almaguer’s kills to make it 15-12. The Gila Monsters had six straight points and went on to score 13 of the final 15 points of the set to put the Aztecs down 2-0 in the match.
The Aztecs trailed the entire third set but made things interesting towards the end. Down 20-15, they scored three straight points capped off by Bright-Schade’s kill to make it 20-18. Pima cut it to a one-point deficit after Duncan’s kill and an out-of-bounds shot by Eastern to make it 21-20. The Aztecs could not tie it up in the end.
Jacome produced another double-double as she had 21 assists and 14 digs while freshman Morgan Hains (Canyon del Oro HS) finished with 24 digs and an ace.
Bright-Schade finished with six kills and 15 digs while Almaguer also had six kills. Sophomore Lina Kassimatis closed it out with five kills; all in the third set. Hansen finished with four kills and three blocks and freshman Laney Morris (Thatcher HS) had nine digs and one ace.
The Aztecs will return to the West Campus Aztec Gym on Wednesday when they host Mesa Community College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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