(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (4-5) played two matches on Friday as part of its hosted Aztec Classic Invitational at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium. The Aztecs went 1-1 on the day.
Game 1: Treasure Valley Chukars 3, Pima Aztecs 2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 13-25, 15-12)
It was a back-and-forth contest in Pima’s first match of the day, but they couldn’t close out the fifth set tiebreaker. The Aztecs handed the Chukars (5-0) their first set losses of the season.
The Aztecs trailed 16-10 but scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a 20-17 advantage forcing Treasure Valley to call timeout. The Chukars cut it to a one-point game at 22-21 but the Aztecs scored the final three points to win the set.
The second set featured nine ties and six lead changes as neither team held more than a three-point advantage until the end of the set. With the score tied at 20-20, the Chukars scored four straight points to gain set-point. The Aztecs scored two straight, but the Chukars closed it out to tie the match at 1-1.
The Aztecs led 11-8 in the third set, but the Chukars scored nine of the next 10 points. The Aztecs cut the deficit to three points but that’s as close as they’d get as Treasure Valley took a 2-1 lead.
Pima led 12-9 in the fourth set and would force a fifth set tie breaker after using on a 9-1 run to take a double-digit lead at 21-10. The Aztecs held the Chukars to just three more points for the rest of the set as Pima tied the match at 2-2.
The Aztecs clinged to a 7-6 lead in the final set but the Chukars scored four straight to take a 10-7 lead. Down 11-9, the Aztecs got two straight kills from freshman Maggie McReynolds (Mountain View HS) and then took a 12-11 lead, but the Chukars closed out the match with four straight points.
Sophomore Haylee Gilleland (Flagstaff HS) finished with a team-high 15 kills to go with one ace. McReynolds posted 13 kills while sophomore Elli Meinke (Ironwood Ridge HS) had eight kills, one ace and one block.
Game 2: Pima Aztecs 3, Highland Scotties 1 (23-25, 25-19, 26-16, 25-20)
The Aztecs rallied off three straight victories after dropping the first set to the Scotties (4-4).
The Aztecs led 16-10 in the first set, but the Scotties went on a 7-1 run to tie it at 17-17. Pima was ahead 22-20 forcing Highland to call timeout. The Scotties went on to score five of the final six points of the set to take the lead.
The score was tied at 14-14 in the second set, and the Aztecs got a kill from sophomore Meinke and an ace from freshman Julia Weatherbie (Mountain View HS) that started a 9-2 run to make it 23-16, their biggest lead of the set. Pima tied the match at 1-1.
The Aztecs scored the first five points in the third set but the Scotties came back to cut it to a one-point deficit. Up 12-11, the Aztecs created some space as they rallied off five straight points forcing Highland to call timeout with the score at 17-11. They cut it to three points at 19-16 but the Aztecs scored the final six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Pima led the entire fourth set as they jumped out to a 11-2 lead. The Scotties cut it to a four-point deficit on a few occasions but that’s as close as they would get.
Gilleland finished the match with a team-high 23 kills to go with two aces and two blocks. McReynolds closed out the match with 12 kills.
The Aztecs get back to ACCAC conference play next Friday when they play at South Mountain Community College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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