Information for this report provided by Pima College media relations:
The Pima Community College volleyball team (2-7) began play in the NJCAA Division II South Central District Tournament on Friday in Miami, OK.
The Aztecs earned two victories to advance to Saturday’s championship round.
In their first match, the Aztecs won all 3 sets against the Brookhaven College Bears (25-21, 25-19, 27-25)
The Aztecs handed the Bears (12-1) their first defeat of the season. Brookhaven had lost only four sets all season. On the other side, the Aztecs earned their first win of the season. Sophomore Eve Pearson (Canyon del Oro) finished the match with a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs while fellow sophomore Bergen Campbell posted nine kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Holly Stutz (Cienega) had eight kills and three blocks.
In the Aztecs second match of the day, they won 3 out of 4 sets against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Lady Norse (15-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23). The Aztecs trailed 23-22 in the 4th set but scored three straight points to close out the match. Freshman Andrea Vigil-German (Ironwood Ridge) led the Aztecs with 19 kills to go along with 12 digs. Campbell also had a double-double of 16 kills and 18 digs while sophomore Aydalis Felix (Rincon) finished with 23 digs. Freshman Karla Soto (Nogales) had 38 assists and Stutz posted nine kills and four blocks.
According to Pima volleyball coach Dan Bithell:
“The easiest way to say it, is we had a great day. We played hard and we made adjustments,” said Bithell.
““The teams we played were quality and they pushed on us which really allowed us to have grit. Right away we were able to find different energy and momentum and we got better throughout the day.”
Bithell noticed early on in the first match with Brookhaven College that things were starting to click.
“It started on our side of the net. We had ideas of what Brookhaven was trying to do. We had to take things away from them and it started on our side; every player being on the same page and engaged in what they needed to do,” Bithell said.
“The sophomores set the tone for us to believe in each other.”
The Aztecs play Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (CDT); 1:00 p.m. (MST). They will face off with the winner of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College/Eastfield College match taking place at 1:00 p.m. CDT (11:00 a.m. MST).
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writing intern Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. He is currently attending Pima Community College where he writes for the Aztec Press. Next semester he will be attending the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU where he will work towards a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and Media Studies.
