Sept. 10, 2002
SAN DIEGO - UC Irvine, behind the hitting of Chandra McLeod and Kelly Wing, came back from two games down to defeat San Diego State 22-30, 26-30, 30-22, 30-26, 15-13 Tuesday evening at SDSU's Peterson Gym. The win improved the Anteaters to 3-2 on the season while the Aztecs dropped to 3-4.
The play of McLeod (23 kills) and Wing (19 kills) was the deciding factor over the final three games. After hitting just .139 over the first two games, the Anteaters had an attack percentage of .378 over the final three.
Conversely, SDSU started strong with a .373 hitting percentage after two games, but managed to hit just .211 in the final three games of the match. The Aztecs were led by Zlatina Anguelova and Rochelle Currier, who had 20 kills apiece on the night.
Game one was en even contest that saw the teams trade one point leads through much of the game. The Aztecs made their move with an 18-17 lead, running off three straight points with senior Rochelle Currier totaling seven kills in the game.
The second game was another tight affair that saw SDSU capture four of the games final six points after leading 26-24. Currier contributed seven digs while Zlatina Anguelova tallied five kills including the game winner.
UCI was a different team in game three, hitting .438 with just one error on attack. A balanced Anteater offense was paced by four kills from Sami Cash plus the defensive play of Wing who had six digs.
The fourth game saw the teams battle to a 22-22 draw before Irvine ran off four straight points to take control. Both McLeod and Wing contributed seven kills apiece to knot the match at two games apiece.
The Anteaters took control of the deciding game and led 13-10 before SDSU mounted a comeback that fell just short.
Up next for San Diego State is a trip to Columbia, Mo., to participate in the Tiger Invitational where they will face Arkansas-Little Rock, Eastern Illinois, North Carolina State and Missouri beginning Friday (Sept. 13).