By AMY ZAMBRANO

Year after year, many athletes want to join Pima Community College teams. Only those willing to leave their hearts on the court make it.

Czarina Schutt, 19, is one athlete who made a name for herself on the PCC volleyball team. Her coach, Dan Bithell, named her team captain this season because of her experience and leadership skills.

In addition to making a good impression on the court, she has proven to be a very intellectual athlete. She is in line to receive a prestigious academic award, the Academic All-American awarded by the National Junior College Athlete Association.

This season was Schutt’s last with the team. She feels she made it worth it, as she improved on her leadership skills and improved as a team player.

“As a team we have improved a lot,” she said. “Looking at us from the beginning, we are a different team now.”

The PCC volleyball team struggled to win matches but it didn’t keep Schutt from giving her best effort. She pushed the team hard and encouraged her teammates to do better every day.

Czarina has been a key player for the team, Bithell said. There were times she was doing the work of three people on the court.

She showed high potential, gave direction to the team and built a good road for the younger players, Bithell said.

Schutt said she had fun, enjoying good chemistry with her teammates and making many friends.

For pre-game preparation, she ate a healthy meal— usually salads— to help her feel light during the game. Though she has little free time, she enjoys going out to eat sushi.

Schutt must keep up her grades to be eligible for the academic award, and wait until the end of the semester for her grades to be posted. Until then, she’s working hard, especially at science.

Her plans are to finish her science classes at Pima, then leave Tucson for a college in California to study pharmacy.

Bithell said she set a legacy.

“Hopefully her hard work this season pays off, and her leadership will move on to next year,” he said.

Czarina Schutt is in the running for the Academic All-American award.

By AMY ZAMBRANO

The Pima Community College volleyball team concluded the season with losses against Mesa and South Mountain community colleges.

The (3-21-0 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) Aztecs hoped to finish their season strong but instead came home empty-handed.

The team had an 11-game losing streak, then three wins at a San Diego tournament, followed by a 12-game losing streak.

“It was a very inexperienced team, and we needed to focus on working hard until the end,” coach Dan Bithell said. “We just haven’t learned how to close things out in each game.”

The team drove to Phoenix on Oct. 28 to play its final match of the season against South Mountain. Pima lost three sets in a row. South Mountain opened the match with an 18-25 win, followed by 22-25 and 15-25 point victories.

Mesa visited Aztec territory on Oct. 26 for Pima’s final home match. The Aztecs won one of four sets.

“It was a high-level game and we gave them a good fight, but we had some unforced errors,” Bithell said.

Freshmen offensive leader Kaylee Rakowski made 10 kills. Freshmen libero Brittany Oddo had 15 digs and two service aces. Sophomore setter Czarina Schutt contributed with three aces and freshmen setter Kami Humphrey served three aces and made three blocks.

Bithell expects a better season next year.

“I do plan on getting people who want to work hard for the team,” he said. “I expect much more for next year.”

Season ends with losses.

The Pima Community College volleyball team concluded the season with losses against Mesa and South Mountain community colleges.

The (3-21-0 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) Aztecs hoped to finish their season strong but instead came home empty-handed.

The team had an 11-game losing streak, then three wins at a San Diego tournament, followed by a 12-game losing streak.

“It was a very inexperienced team, and we needed to focus on working hard until the end,” coach Dan Bithell said. “We just haven’t learned how to close things out in each game.”

The team drove to Phoenix on Oct. 28 to play its final match of the season against South Mountain. Pima lost three sets in a row. South Mountain opened the match with an 18-25 win, followed by 22-25 and 15-25 point victories.

Mesa visited Aztec territory on Oct. 26 for Pima’s final home match. The Aztecs won one of four sets.

“It was a high-level game and we gave them a good fight, but we had some unforced errors,” Bithell said.

Freshmen offensive leader Kaylee Rakowski made 10 kills. Freshmen libero Brittany Oddo had 15 digs and two service aces. Sophomore setter Czarina Schutt contributed with three aces and freshmen setter Kami Humphrey served three aces and made three blocks.

Bithell expects a better season next year.

“I do plan on getting people who want to work hard for the team,” he said. “I expect much more for next year.”

The Pima Community College Volleyball team concluded the season with losses against Mesa Community College and South Mountain Community College.

The (3-21-0 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) Aztecs hoped to finish their season strong but instead came home empty handed.

The team had an 11-game losing streak, then three wins at a San Diego tournament, followed by a 12-game losing streak.

“It was a very inexperienced team, and we needed to focus on working hard until the end,” coach Dan Bithell said. “We just haven’t learned how to close things out in each game.”

The team drove to Phoenix on Oct. 28 to play its final match of the season against South Mountain. Pima lost three sets in a row. South Mountain opened the match with an 18-25 win, followed by 22-25 and 15-25 point victories.

Mesa visited Aztec territory on Oct. 26 for Pima’s final home match. The Aztecs gave Mesa a fight as they won one of four very tough sets.

“It was a high-level game and we gave them a good fight,” Bithell said, “but like I said before, we had some unforced errors.”

Freshmen offensive leader Kaylee Rakowski made 10 kills for the team. Freshmen libero Brittany Oddo played well with 15 digs and two service aces in the conference loss. Sophomore setter Czarina Schutt contributed with three aces and freshmen setter Kami Humphrey served three aces and made three blocks.

Next year seems far off for Bithell, but he expects a better season next year.

“I do plan on getting people who want to work hard for the team,” he said. “I expect much more for next year.”

——–

By AMY ZAMBRANO

The Pima Community College volleyball season is almost over and the team’s expectation is to finish strong.

“We just want to be able to finish this season on a positive note,” freshmen setter Kami Humphrey said. “We want to finish the season strong.”

The (3-20, 0-14 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) Aztecs could not keep up with Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Eastern Arizona College or Central Arizona College in their most recent matches.

The Aztecs lost 3-0 to Chandler-Gilbert Community College on Oct. 21. The first and closest set was lost 25-21, while the second and third sets were lost 25-13 and 25-19.

The team lost three sets to none in an away match against Eastern Arizona on Oct. 19. The first and second sets were lost 25-19, 25-14. The third and final set went to Eastern Arizona with a score of 25-15.

Pima lost a home match against Central Arizona on Oct. 14.

The Aztecs opened the best-of-five match with a 25-22 win, but lost the next three games 25-23, 25-20 and 25-17.

Freshman outside hitter Kalee Rakowski led the team with 15 total kills. Kami Humphrey had a good two-way match with 18 assists and four blocks. Freshman libero Brittany Oddo contributed 13 digs for the team in the conference loss.

Coach Dan Bithell said he is proud of the players and their hard work during the season.

“We played many physical imposing teams and we were not intimidated,” he said. “We just let the season slip away from us because of unforced errors, but overall worked very hard.”

Pima had its final home match of the 2011 season Oct. 26 against Mesa Community College and its final match against South Mountain Community College Oct. 28.

Freshman libero Brittany Oddo makes an effort to keep the ball in play.

Dan Bithell has been the head coach of the Aztec Women’s Volleyball team since 2000 when he took over for Heather Moore. Bithell was the assistant coach for the team for six years prior.

 The season before Bithell replaced Moore as the head coach of the Lady Aztecs, they’re record was 1-17 in conference play.

 This season the Aztecs are 0-17 in conference play with three more matches to be played. The team has won three matches this season, but they all came against non-member schools.

 Coach Bithell had stated in a 2000 issue of the Aztec Press saying that the team at the time just didn’t have the proper chemistry. He also said “This is the most difficult conference in the nation,”in the same issue.

 Bithell has lead the Aztecs to three ACCAC Regional Playoffs and led them to their best record (16-15 overall and 11-14 in conference play) in 2006. He has also produced five all-conference and all-region selections.

He also has one NJCAA All-American and nine NJCAA Academic All-Americans, plus he has coached three that have been recognized as a fall All-Academic team.

 Bithell was hoping for more community support back in 2000. He does feel that they have received more support from the community since then, but feels there could be more.

He would like to see some more media coverage for all the teams at Pima since it’s one of two colleges in Tucson.

“We have some terrific nationally recognized teams and it would be great to see them playing in front of packed crowds,” Bithell said

After breaking an 11-match losing streak, the Pima Community College volleyball team suffered three tough losses.

Pima (3-14, 0-9, Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) couldn’t win its last three matches, against Phoenix College, Scottsdale Community College and Yavapai College.

The Aztecs lost a home match, 3-0, against Phoenix on Oct. 7. They lost the first set 25-18 and the second set 25-16. The third set was very close but Pima lost 25-22.

On Sept. 30, Scottsdale crushed the Aztecs in three sets. They lost their first two sets 25-14 and the last set 25-18.

Head coach Dan Bithell said freshman setters Kami Humphrey and sophomore Czarina Schutt lead Pima’s offense at the Scottsdale match.

“I felt like we didn’t put in a lot of physical effort,” Bithell said. “Any time that we’re not in a position to play our hardest, we are not going to be very successful and so that’s kind of the way that it went.”

On Sept. 28, Pima team lost 3-0 in a road conference match against Yavapai.

Freshman outside hitter Megan Dorris led the Pima offensive effort with five kills. Aztec team captain Czarina Schutt played a solid two-way match with 17 assists and four digs. Humphrey also played well at the net, making three blocks.

“I felt that we played a little better but again just not with the consistency that we really needed to win that game,” Bithell said.

The coach said he expects to win.

“I feel if we are able to kind of put our best effort out there we can compete with anybody and obviously if that is what we can do I like our chances.” Bithell said.

Pima’s closes out the season with a home match and two road matches before Sophomore Night on Oct. 26 against Mesa Commuity College at 7 p.m.

Czarina Schutt makes dig in match with Phoenix on Oct. 7

The Pima Community College volleyball team snapped their 11-match losing streak on a successful trip to California.

The Aztecs (3-12, 0-8 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) took fifth place at the San Diego City College Tournament on Sept. 24.

“We are just about to mid-season and this would be a nice time for us to get on a run,” head Coach Dan Bithell said.

The Aztecs defeated College of the Desert (Calif.) in straight sets with scores of 25-22 and 25-17. Pima also beat the hosting school, San Diego City College, in straight sets, 25-16 and 25-12.

Pima was matched up with Cypress (Calif.) College in their first playoff round of the tournament. After winning the first set 25-18, Pima lost the second and third and deciding set with scores of 25-17, and 15-13.

The Aztecs lost their final, single-set match of the tournament 25-19 to Citrus (Calif.) College. The play of freshman middle blocker Kendra Hall gave her a spot on the all-tournament team.

Pima earned their first victory of the season in El Cajon, California where they faced of with Cuyamaca College on Friday Sept. 23. The Aztecs lost the first set in the best-of-five match 25-22, but won three sets in a row with scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 25-23 to close out the match.

Hall had 14 kills and four blocks and sophomore setter Czarina Schutt had 33 assists in the match. The defense was led by freshman libero Brittany Oddo, who also had four service aces on the night.

The Aztecs were able to win a set in their home-match with No. 9 Chandler-Gilbert Community College on Wednesday Sept. 21. Pima lost the first set 25-17 but won set two 27-25.

Sets three and four went to Chandler-Gilbert with scores of 25-20 and 25-19, giving Pima the 3-1 loss.

Oddo led the team with 13 digs and Hall had four blocks against big hitters of Chandler-Gilbert.

“Chandler-Gilbert is one of the top teams with two of the top bigs in the conference,” Bithell said. “Kendra Hall held her own against them.”

Pima was at home for the second night in a row on Tuesday Sept. 20 where they hosted South Mountain Community College. The Aztecs held leads in all three sets but lost them all with scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-21.

“I like the way we are responding,” Bithell said. “We didn’t have a great physical or mental match against South Mountain, but we responded well agains Chandler-Gilbert.”

On Friday Sept. 16 Pima played at Mesa Community College. They lost sets one and two 25-17 and 25-15 but pushed the match to four sets when they won set three 25-22. Mesa became victorious when they won set four 25-22.

Pima pushed their match with Phoenix College to four sets on Wednesday Sept. 14. They lost set one 25-13 but they won their first conference set of the season by a score of 25-20 in set two.

The next sets were won by Phoenix College with scores of 25-19 and 25-20.

Despite being last in the ACCAC, the Aztecs are high in the statistical standings. Hall is tied for second in the conference with a 1.04 blocks per set average. She is also second in the ACCAC in hitting efficiency with 55 kills in 98 attempts.

Humphrey is 10th in the ACCAC with an 0.41 aces per set average. Humphrey is also 8th in the conference with a 0.72 blocks per set average.

Schutt is ninth in the conference, averaging 7.17 assists per set. Schutt leads Pima with 208 sets.

Oddo is 6th in the ACCAC in digs per set average. Oddo has 94 digs this season.

Freshman outside hitter Kaylee Rakowski is ninth in the conference with a 2.65 kill per set average. Rakowski leads the team with 77 kills.

Kami Humphrey elevated for the kill. Aztec Press photo by James Kelley.

Next match: Sept. 30 at Scottsdale CC 7 p.m.

Next home match: Oct. 7 vs. Phoenix College 7 p.m

Conference match: Oct. 12 at Glendale CC 7 p.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaK3-BP9B6Y

35
Points given up by the football team in its second game against Glendale Community College

46
Points given up by the football team in its home opener against Scottsdale Community College

15
Goals scored by the men’s soccer team against South Mountain Community College, a PCC single game goals record

15th
Women’s soccer season this year

7
Match losing streak for the volleyball team to start the season

13
Match losing streak the volleyball team endured to start the 2010 season

18:34
5K time by freshman Jamie Shrader in cross country’s first meet, the best junior college time in the nation this year

5
National ranking of the women’s cross country team

10
National ranking of the men’s cross country team

7
Game road trips for the men’s soccer team to start the season

Sources:
Pima Community College, National Junior College Athletic Association

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The Pima Community College volleyball team traveled to Phoenix for a tournament where they played four matches over two days but the results were all too familiar.

The Aztecs (0-7, 0-3 in Arizona Community College Athletic Conference play) traveled to the Scottsdale Classic Tournament, Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 where they lost all four matches.

Pima opened with a 2-0 loss to Mesa Community College, 25-20 and 28-26. Then the Aztecs lost 2-0 to New Mexico Military Institute, 25-18 and 25-13.

PCC closed out Sept. 9 with a 2-0 loss to Utah State University – College of Eastern Utah 25-22 and 25-14. The Aztecs finished the tournament on Sept. 10 with a 2-0 (25-18 and 25-14) loss to Central Wyoming College.

Kaylee Rakowski goes for a spike

Pima has not won a conference set since losing 3-1 to No. 18 Arizona Western College to start the year. Last season the Aztecs started with a 13-match losing streak, also with a team of mostly freshmen.

Pima is led by their team captain and lone sophomore, setter Czarina Schutt who leads the team in assists.

“Our team can be very good, sometimes we need to stop thinking so much and just play,” Schutt said. “Consistency will come with experience.”

On Sept. 7 Pima hosted a match against No. 6 Glendale Community College. Pima lost all three sets to Glendale with scores of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-18 respectively.

Schutt led the team with 18 assists; a majority of her assists went to freshman middle blocker Kendra Hall who had a team high five kills. Freshman libero, Brittany Oddo led the Pima defense with six digs on the night.

One week before their match with Glendale they hosted a conference match against Scottsdale Community College.

The first set was close as Pima lost 25-22; sets two and three also went to the Fighting Artichokes with scores of 25-19 and 25-15.

In the loss to Scottsdale freshman outside hitter Kaylee Rakowski had a team high six kills. Schutt had 17 assists and freshman setter Kami Humphrey led the defense with eight digs.
On Sept. 2 Pima had a successful scrimmage against alumni. The Dig Pink match was held to raise funds for breast cancer awareness.

The team will carry this theme for the rest of the season and head coach Dan Bithell urges fans and students to wear pink to all home games this season.

In order to continue fundraising the team is selling pink Aztec volleyball shirts for $15 that will be available at home games and in Bithell’s office, located in the gymnasium.

The next match will be Wednesday Sept. 14 at Phoenix College at 7 p.m. The next home match will be Tuesday, Sept. 20, against South Mountain Community College at 7 p.m.

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On Deck
Sept. 16: @ Mesa CC,
7 p.m.
Sept. 20: South Mountain CC, 7 p.m.
Sept. 21: Chandler-Gilbert CC, 7 p.m.
Sept. 23: @ Cuyamaca
(Calif.) College, 5 p.m.
Sept. 24: San Diego City College Tournament
(San Diego)
Sept. 28: @ Yavapai College, 7 p.m.
All home matches are at the West Campus.

The 2011 volleyball season is under way as Pima Community College begins with four home matches.

Their first match was Friday Aug. 26 with last year’s conference champion, Arizona Western College.

Pima (0-1, 0-1 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) played a solid all-around match taking the No. 11 ranked team four games deep. Pima lost game one 25-21, then won game two 26-24. Game three went to AWC 25-16 and they closed the match out with a 25-20 game four win over Pima.

Aztec freshman Kaylee Rakowski played well on offense with 12 kills and contributed on defense with nine digs. Pima’s lone sophomore Czarina Schutt had 38 assists and served two aces, while freshman Brittany Oddo led the team with 14 digs.

Friday Sept. 2 is a special day in the volleyball schedule. Pima will host an alumni match entitled the Dig Pink Match. Dig Pink refers to the combination of Pima volleyball and fundraising for breast cancer awareness.

This match will start at 5 p.m. and will be followed by a barbecue. Admission is free for students and all donations will be given to breast cancer research.

The team is filled with 10 freshmen including twin sisters Kaylin and Kami Humphrey from Canyon Del Oro High School.

Kaylee Rakowski

Head coach Dan Bithell is in his 12th year with the program. Victoria Haynie, who is in her first year with the program, will be the only assistant coach. Bithell’s goal for his team this season is to qualify for the playoffs in November.

“It will be interesting to see how this team will respond to the stress and pressure of college volleyball,” Bithell said. “This is a hardworking team that is very talented.”
Last year the Aztecs were 8-23 and 3-15 in the ACCAC.

Pima students will be able to attend all games free of admission. Home games will be in the gym at west campus on Wednesdays and Fridays at 7 p.m.

On Deck
Sept. 2: Alumni Dig Pink Match, 5 p.m.
Sept. 7: Glendale CC,
7 p.m.
Sept. 9-10: Scottsdale
Tournament (Scottsdale)
Sept. 14: @ Phoenix College, 7 p.m.
All home matches are at the West Campus.

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Home Court: West Campus Gym
Admission: Free for regular season matches

Saturday August 13 Preseason Tournament (Scrimmage) Scottsdale All Day
Monday August 22 AZ Christian University (Scrimmage) Phoenix 3 p.m.
Friday August 26 *ARIZONA WESTERN COLLEGE : L 3-1
Wednesday August 31 *SCOTTSDALE CC : L 3-0
Friday September 2 ALUMNI – DIG PINK MATCH 7 p.m.
Wednesday September 7 *GLENDALE CC 7 p.m.
Friday September 9 Scottsdale Classic Tournament (Scottsdale) TBA
Saturday September 10 Scottsdale Classic Tournament (Scottsdale) TBA
Wednesday September 14 @ *Phoenix College 7 p.m.
Friday September 16 @ *Mesa CC 7 p.m.
Tuesday September 20 *SOUTH MOUNTAIN CC 7 p.m.
Wednesday September 21 *CHANDLER-GILBERT CC 7 p.m.
Friday September 23 @ Cuyamaca College 7 p.m.
Saturday September 24 San Diego City College Tournament (San Diego) TBA
Wednesday September 28 @ *Yavapai College 7 p.m.
Friday September 30 @ *Scottsdale CC 7 p.m.
Friday October 7 *PHOENIX COLLEGE 7 p.m.
Wednesday October 12 @ *Glendale CC 7 p.m.
Friday October 14 *CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE 7 p.m.
Wednesday October 19 @ *Eastern Arizona College 7 p.m.
Friday October 21 @ *Chandler-Gilbert CC 7 p.m.
Wednesday October 26 *MESA CC 7 p.m.
Thursday November 3-Saturday November 5 NJCAA Region I, Div. II Playoffs (@ No. 1 Seed) TBA
Thursday November 17-Saturday November 19 NJCAA Div. II National Championships (Wisconsin Dells, Wisc.) TBA

*ACCAC match
Home matches in BOLD

Amanda Daly and Shannon McCullough

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