Tucson, AZ –The Pima Community College volleyball season came to a close on Friday at the Region I, Division II Tournament.
The No. 3 seeded Aztecs eliminated the No. 1 seed Glendale Community College after four sets but fell to No. 3 Scottsdale Community College in a tiebreaker.
#2 Scottsdale Artichokes 3, #3 Pima Aztecs 2 (25-18, 25-21, 16-25, 21-25, 15-12)
Much like their first meeting in the Region Tournament, the Aztecs battled back from two sets down to force a tiebreaker.
The Aztecs dropped the first four points in the final set but came back to tie. There were six ties total in the final game.
Sophomore Elli Meinke (Ironwood Ridge HS) put the Aztecs ahead at 9-8 and Pima got the next point forcing the Artichokes to call timeout. Sophomore Kenna Simon’s kill gave Pima an 11-9 advantage, but Scottsdale rallied off the next four points as the Aztecs trailed 13-11 forcing them to call timeout. The Aztecs got it down to a one-point deficit after freshman Maggie McReynolds’ (Mountain View HS) kill but the Artichokes scored the final two points to advance.
The Aztecs trailed the entire first set but back-to-back aces from sophomore Jasmin Joseph (Tanque Verde HS) helped Pima cut it to a four-point deficit at 22-18. Scottsdale scored the final three points to take a 1-0 lead.
The Aztecs were down as much as six points at 21-15 in the second set but cut Scottsdale’s lead in half at 23-20. They couldn’t get any closer as they fell behind 2-0.
Pima left no doubt in the third set as they held a double-digit lead and went up as much as 11 points at 22-11. Simon’s kill sealed the set as Pima trailed 2-1.
The Aztecs continued the momentum into fourth set but the Artichokes made it interesting. Pima was up 22-15 but Scottsdale scored five straight points. Freshman Kendall Snyder (Canyon del Oro HS) halted the rally with her kill to make it 23-20. Freshman Addy Fisher’s (Queen Creek HS) ace set up set point. The Aztecs forced a tiebreaker two points later.
Sophomore Haylee Gilleland (Flagstaff HS) had a double-double of 20 kills and 18 digs to go with two blocks and two aces. McReynolds posted a double-double of 14 kills and 15 digs to go with two aces. Sophomore Taylor Crawford (Ironwood Ridge HS) closed it out with 45 assists and 12 digs securing her own double-double.
Simon finished with 12 kills while Meinke had eight kills, 13 digs and two aces. Joseph had 28 digs and two aces.
#3 Pima Aztecs 3, #1 Glendale Gauchos 1 (18-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22)
The Aztecs eliminated the No. 1 seed in their first match of the day after winning three straight sets.
The Gauchos took a 19-11 lead in the first set but the Aztecs scored six of the next seven points to cut it to 20-17 but Pima managed just one more point as Glendale took the lead.
Meinke put down an ace to give the Aztecs their biggest lead of the second set at 16-6. The Gauchos cut it to a four-point lead at 19-15 but a kill from freshman Julia Baird and an ace from Crawford got the lead back to six points at 22-15 as the Aztecs tied the match at 1-1.
The Aztecs fell behind 13-7 in the third set but tied it up with six straight points. With the score knotted at 17-17, the Aztecs gained the upper hand with four straight points as Crawford had two aces, and Meinke and Joseph had kills to make it 21-17. Simon put down two straight kills to set up set-point as Pima went up 2-1.
Pima led 19-16 in the fourth set, but the Gauchos rallied off six straight points as the Aztecs found themselves trailing 22-19 forcing them to call timeout. Meinke had a kill and an ace while McReynolds had two straight kills as the Aztecs took the lead for good. The final two shots from Glendale sailed out of bounds and the Aztecs secured the win.
Gilleland closed out the match with a double-double of 17 kills and 12 digs to go with two aces. Meinke also produced a double-double as she finished with 10 kills and 12 digs. She also added three aces.
Simon was also in double figures with 12 kills while McReynolds had eight kills and 13 digs.
Crawford posted 41 assists, seven digs and four aces and Joseph finished with 19 digs.
The Aztecs close out the season with a 17-14 overall record; most overall wins in a season since 2015. It was also the most ACCAC conference wins in program history as they went 12-6. The second most was when they went 9-6 in 2021 and 9-7 in 2014.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Aztec Athletics- Raymond Suarez