(Phoenix, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (14-12, 10-6 in ACCAC) found itself in a battle on Friday at South Mountain Community College (5-20, 3-13).
The Aztecs defeated the Cougars in the fifth set tiebreaker to win the match (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 15-11) and pick up their 10th victory in ACCAC conference play. The win secured a spot in the Region I, Division II Playoffs. It was also Pima’s third victory over the Cougars this season.
The Aztecs dropped a competitive first set as neither team held more than a two-point advantage for the first 40 points. With the score tied at 19-19, the Cougars scored three straight to make it 22-19. The Aztecs cut the deficit to one point on three occasions but couldn’t overtake them. South Mountain went up 1-0 in the match.
The Aztecs fell behind in the second set 11-6 but after a timeout, they rallied off nine of the next 10 points to take the lead at 15-12. Sophomore Haylee Gilleland (Flagstaff HS) had two kills and sophomore Jasmin Joseph had an ace during that stretch. Up 15-14, the Aztecs widened their lead with five of the next six points to make it 20-15 as Pima tied the match at 1-1.
The Cougars held a slim advantage in the first points of the third set. Down 9-8, the Aztecs rallied off five straight points to take a 13-9 lead. They took their biggest lead after back-to-back kills from Gilleland and freshman Ava Harrelson to make it 20-13. The Cougars got within four points at 24-20 but the Aztecs took a 2-1 lead with the next point.
The Cougars led from start-to-finish in the fourth set. The Aztecs cut the deficit to one-point but couldn’t tie or take the lead as South Mountain forced the tiebreaker.
The Aztecs countered by leading from start-to-finish in the tiebreaker. Up 7-6, freshman Julia Weatherbie (Mountain View HS) dumped the ball over the net for a point, then Gilleland had a kill, and sophomore Tameryn Koford made a play at the net for a Pima point. Joseph put down an ace to make it 11-6 forcing the Cougars to call timeout. The Aztecs capped the run with five straight points to go up 12-6. The Cougars scored five of the next six to cut it to 13-11 but sophomore Elli Meinke (Ironwood Ridge HS) had a big kill to halt the rally setting up match point and Pima won it on the play.
Gilleland finished the match with a team-high 19 kills to go with three blocks and one ace. Gilleland has produced double-digit kills in 19 of the 24 matches she has played in this season.
Freshman Maggie McReynolds (Mountain View HS) had double figures in kills for the 17th time out of 26 matches she has played in this season. She posted 13 kills and had one block.
Meinke closed out the match with 10 kills, two blocks and one ace. Joseph had two aces.
The Aztecs will finish off the regular season with two matches at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium next week. They will host Mesa Community College on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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