Aztecs volleyball falls to Scottsdale CC to close 2021 season

The Pima Community College volleyball season (14-13) came to close on Friday in the second day of the NJCAA Region I, Division II Tournament.

• The No. 4 seeded Aztecs fell to No. 3 Scottsdale Community College in straight sets 25-20, 25-13, 25-16.
• The Aztecs took an early lead in the first set. Sophomore Isabel Hansen (Rincon HS) put down a kill to put Pima ahead 9-3. The Artichokes chipped away and tied it up at 13-13. Scottsdale scored seven of the next nine points to put the Aztecs down 20-15. Pima rallied back with three straight points to make it 20-18 but that's as close as they would get.
• The Aztecs trailed for much of the second set and cut Scottsdale's lead to 14-10 but the Artichokes rallied off nine straight to take control. The Aztecs took the lead in the third set with a kill and a block-point from Hansen and sophomore Deanna Almaguer's kill put the Aztecs up 11-6. Scottsdale tied it up at 11-11. The Aztecs trailed 15-14 but Scottsdale scored eight of the final 10 points.
• Sophomore Karla Soto (Nogales HS) finished with a double-double of 14 assists and 12 digs. Almaguer had a team-high six kills along with 11 digs. Sophomore Jessica Bright-Schade (Safford HS) had five kills and 10 digs while sophomore Kaylee Moseley (Marana HS) posted five kills and six blocks. Sophomore Andrea Vigil German (Ironwood Ridge HS) also had five kills as well as seven digs. Sophomore Aydalis Felix (Rincon HS) closed out the match with 19 digs.
• Coach's Quote: "My heart really hurts for my team right now because we all certainly felt that we were better than our result today," Pima volleyball coach Dan Bithell said. "All of the teams in the region playoffs this year were very closely matched and it is disappointing to not be able to find a way to win one or two points at the critical times, but that is where we fell short this weekend.
  "With that being said, I cannot be more proud of this team and all the adversity they fought through. They have represented themselves, their families, their coaches and their school at a high level all season."

The Aztecs won nine ACCAC conference matches for the first time since 2014. Felix was named ACCAC Libero of the Year and Soto and Moseley were selected Honorable Mention All-ACCAC.