Nov. 4, 2000
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's volleyball team clinched at least a number-four seed at the Mountain West Conference Tournament by defeating UNLV in three games (15-10, 15-12, 15-9) Saturday evening in Peterson Gym. The win improved SDSU's overall season mark to 16-11 (8-4 MWC) while the Rebels fell to 4-17 (4-8 MWC).
Although the win came in three games, it was by no means achieved easily. The Aztecs jumped out to a 10-3 lead in game one, only to see UNLV storm back to get within 11-10 behind the hitting of Patricia Assuncao and Leiana Oswald. From there, the Aztecs got kills from Nicole Akporiaye and Amy Hallquist plus blocks from the same twosome to close out the game.
The game two script was almost the same, with the Aztecs jumping out to a 9-3 lead only to have UNLV come back with seven straight points. With the score tied at 11-11, Akporiaye had a kill and a block while freshman Aspen McPartland had a solo block to help secure the victory for SDSU.
Game three was a tight game much of the way, with the Aztecs leading by a point or two much of the way until they were able to put together a five-point run behind the blocking of Akporiaye and the hitting of Hallquist to take a 13-8 lead. After the Rebels came back with two points, a combination block by McPartland and Monet Solberg set up match point, and Hallquist put the game away with her 13th kill of the night, a total which led SDSU.
UNLV's Oswald led all players with 15 kills while hitting .316 in the process. Teammate Amber Graham contributed a dozen kills in a losing cause while Assuncao hit .368.
In addition to Hallquist, two other Aztecs reached double figures in kills: McPartland (12) and Akporiaye (10). SDSU was led in hitting by Akporiaye with a .400 kill percentage while McPartland hit .308 over the three-game match.
Up next for San Diego State is a date with 8th-ranked Colorado State next Friday, Nov. 10, at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym. The Aztecs close out their 2000 home season the following evening (Nov. 11) with a conference match against Wyoming.
San Diego State 3, UNLV 0 1 2 3 FinalUNLV 10 12 9 0SDSU 15 15 15 3Kills: UNLV-47 (Oswald-15), SDSU-53 (Hallquist-10)Assists: UNLV-41 (Maria Julia Goes-36), SDSU-51 (Melissa Wright-43)Digs: UNLV-39 (Graham-9), SDSU-45 (Katie Magnuson-15)Blocks: UNLV 9 (Graham-5), SDSU-10 (Erin Grady-4)Service Aces: UNLV-0, SDSU-4 (Solberg-2)Attendance: 216