Johnson Has 15 Kills as Aztec Volleyball Upsets No. 12 South Mountain
The Pima Community College volleyball team (4-10, 2-2 in ACCAC) has had a bit of rough start to the season but the Aztecs secured a big ACCAC conference win at home on Friday.
The Aztecs upset No. 12 ranked South Mountain Community College (11-6, 2-3) in straight sets 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-20). The Aztecs had dropped three straight and six of their last seven matches coming into Friday's match.
The Aztecs trailed for much of the first set and fell behind by as much as six points. Down 20-16, the Aztecs rallied off five straight points to take their first lead at 21-20 which forced the Cougars to call timeout. With the score knotted at 24-24, sophomore Aleksandra Palmer (Thatcher HS) and freshman Trae Johnson (Highland HS) secured the win with their kills.
In the second set, the Aztecs and Cougars traded the lead early on. Down 11-9, the Aztecs rallied again scoring six straight set points to take a 15-11 lead. The Aztecs held the lead for good as freshman Jamie Ricksecker (Pusch Ridge Christian HS) and Palmer put down the final kills to give Pima a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Aztecs fought from behind once again in the third set. They trailed 11-4 early but slowly marched back. Down 16-12, Pima scored six straight points to make it 18-16. Freshman Kaitlynn Maxon's (Cienega HS) kill, Palmer's block at the net and Johnson's kill secured the straight set victory.
"It was a terrific team win, everyone contributed and carried the load on offense," Pima volleyball coach Dan Bithell said. "After our loss on Wednesday (3-2 at Chandler-Gilbert CC), we focused on our side of the net. South Mountain is good and we put the pressure on them and made it difficult.
"Optimistically, we need to do this consistently. Once is always a good sign but we have a tough match on Wednesday (vs. Arizona Western College). Hopefully we can do the same thing."
The Aztecs host undefeated Arizona Western College on Wednesday at the West Campus Gymnasium. The match begins at 7:00 p.m.
Trae Johnson/Photo by Ben Carbajal