(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College volleyball team (11-8, 8-2 in ACCAC) protected its home floor on Wednesday as it earned a straight set victory against South Mountain Community College (4-15, 2-8).
It was No. 25 ranked Pima’s third straight-set win of the season as they beat the Cougars 25-19, 25-19, 25-20. The Aztecs beat the Cougars in Phoenix on Sept. 6 in their first meeting.
The Aztecs gave up the first six of seven points to begin the first set but got back into it by scoring the next eight of nine points to take a 10-7 lead. Up 13-11, the Aztecs pulled away with four straight points to take their biggest lead at 17-11. The Aztecs maintained a four-to-six-point advantage to take the first game.
The Aztecs led the entire second set as they went up 6-1. The Cougars cut it to 9-7 but that was as close as they would get as the Aztecs scored the following six of seven points. Freshman Maggie McReynolds (Mountain View HS) had two kills while sophomore Elli Meinke (Ironwood Ridge HS) had two aces during that stretch to make it 15-8. The Aztecs matched the seven-point lead on three more occasions to take a 2-0 lead.
The third set featured nine ties. Down 15-14, sophomore Haylee Gilleland (Flagstaff HS) tied it with a kill and sophomore Jasmin Joseph (Tanque Verde HS) had an ace to put the Aztecs ahead 16-15. The Cougars tied it, but Gilleland put down two straight kills to give Pima the advantage. Up 19-17, the Aztecs scored four straight points to build a cushion. Gilleland capped it with an ace to make it 23-17. The Cougars got within four points, but the Aztecs closed out the match in the end.
McReynolds finished with a team-high 13 kills to go with two aces. Gilleland posted 11 kills and three aces while Meinke had seven kills and two aces.
Freshman Julia Weatherbie (Mountain View HS) finished with 37 assists. Joseph closed out the match with 17 digs and two aces.
The Aztecs will hit the road as they play at No. 21 ranked Mesa Community College on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics – Raymond Suarez