By Jon Johnson/Gila Herald
PIMA — Following a tough sweep at the hands of Safford earlier in the week, the Willcox Cowgirls rebounded Wednesday night on the road, outlasting the Pima Roughriders in a four-set battle, 25-16, 25-20, 15-25, and 25-22.
Willcox Head Coach Shaye Klump made tactical adjustments to her starting rotation following the loss to Safford, and the changes paid off immediately as the Cowgirls jumped out to an early two-set lead. Willcox took control of the opening set 25-16 before pulling away late in a competitive second set to build a 25-20 advantage.
“It is a great win,” Klump said. “We just dropped three to Safford two days ago, and coming into this game, I made a few changes in the lineup, and it worked. And it’s awesome. We jumped out two games to nothing… My girls did a great job.”
Faced with a sweep on their home court, the Roughriders responded in the third set, dominating at the net to take a decisive 25-15 victory. However, Willcox regrouped in the fourth set, trading points back and forth with Pima before executing key plays late to seal the 3-1 match victory.
“I think my girls just had a little more perseverance than Pima did,” Klump added. “Pima’s got some big girls, but we played head-to-head with them, and we did a great job.”
For Pima, the slow start proved too steep a hill to climb. Head Coach Ruthie Butler noted that her squad’s intensity didn’t fully ignite until the third-set turnaround.
“Honestly, I feel like they didn’t show up till that third game,” Butler said. “Tonight was the learning. We learned a lot. We came in kind of with a little bit of big egos, thinking this was going to be an easy win, and now we got a lot to work on, for sure.”
Offensively, Pima was led by Morgan Russell and Taylor Ashby, who recorded 13 kills apiece, alongside Audrey Brimhall and Cheyanne Alder, who each posted 8 kills. Brimhall also controlled the net defensively with 7 blocks. Defensively, Harlee McBiles anchored the back row with a team-high 46 digs, while Alder added 28 digs. Setters Demi Derrick and Tynzli Hatch orchestrated the offense, dishing out 24 and 19 assists, respectively.
Despite the setback, Butler remains confident in her team’s ceiling as they work through early-season adjustments.
“If we can start out better in the start, we’re going to be unstoppable,” Butler said. “We got to work on our passing, our covering, and getting those blocks and staying out of the net… We’ll get them there, though, because we’ve got some amazing talent. So it’s gonna be awesome.”
Pima (0-1 conference, 1-2 overall) will look to bounce back on Friday, Sept. 4, when they travel upcountry to face Round Valley in Eagar at 2 p.m.
Willcox (2-0 conference, 2-1 overall) will return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 9, taking on the Tombstone Yellow Jackets on the road at 6 p.m.
