Whatton, Ross and Simon combine for 37 kills as Volleyball beats Mesa CC in tiebreaker

The Pima Community College volleyball team (10-15, 6-7 in ACCAC) picked up a huge ACCAC conference victory on the road on Wednesday at Mesa Community College (10-13, 6-7).

• The Aztecs defeated the Thunderbirds in five sets (28-26, 19-25, 25-19, 14-25, 15-10).
• The Aztecs were down to set point in the first set trailing 25-24, but rallied back to snagged the win to take the early advantage. After dropping the second set, the Aztecs took a 2-1 lead in the match with a third set victory.
• The match would go to a tie-breaker after the Thunderbirds claimed the fourth set. The Aztecs fell behind 1-0 but would tie it up and take the lead for good as they held a two to three-point advantage for much of the final set. Pima claimed the final three points of the set to seal the win.
• Sophomore Abby Whatton (Canyon del Oro HS) finished with a team-high 15 kills and secured a double-double with 12 digs to go along with three aces. Three Aztecs total finished in double figures in kills as sophomore Sasha Ross (Canyon del Oro HS) and freshman Kenna Simon each produced 11 kills. Ross also had a double-double with 12 digs and also had three blocks. Simon added six blocks at the net.
• Freshman Elli Meinke (Ironwood Ridge HS) fell short of double figures as she finished the match with nine kills and two blocks. Freshman Taylor Crawford (Ironwood Ridge HS) closed it out with 48 assists, nine digs and three aces. Sophomore Morgan Hains (Canyon del Oro HS) had 19 digs.

The Aztecs have three matches left in the regular season; two at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium. They will host No. 1 ranked Scottsdale Community College on Friday at the Aztec Gym. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.