Oct. 26, 2002
PROVO, Utah - In a spirited match that could have gone either way, San Diego State defeated Brigham Young in three close games (30-26, 31-29, 31-29) Saturday at BYU's Smith Fieldhouse. With the win, the Aztecs improve to 16-10 overall and 7-2 in the Mountain West Conference, one half game behind league leader Colorado State (7-1). The Cougars' record falls to 4-5 in the MWC and 9-14 overall.
SDSU was led by Zlatina Anguelova, who had match highs of 20 kills with a .415 attack percentage to go with 11 digs. Melissa Cansdale also recorded a double-double with 10 kills to go along with 11 digs. Senior Nicole Akporiaye also chipped in nine blocks in the visitors' winning effort.
Brigham Young had a trio of players in double figures in kills led by Kimberly Wilson with 15. Lindsey Metcalf finished the match with 13 kills while Laura Nielsen had 11.
The Cougars jumped out to an early lead in the first game and reeled off a 4-0 run to lead 7-1. BYU stretched its lead to eight at 13-5 before SDSU stormed back. Largely on the strength of a 4-0 run of their own, the Aztecs chipped away at the Cougar lead. SDSU would come within one point four times before breaking through and tying the game at 23-23. San Diego State used another 4-0 run to take control of the game and win it on a kill by Zlatina Anguelova.
Game two and three featured many furious rallies, which had both teams scrambling for balls. The second game was close throughout as the Aztecs held the lead in the early going. SDSU had its largest lead at 14-9, but Cougars rallied with four kills to close the gap to 22-22. After falling behind again 26-23, BYU fought back to tie the game at 28-28, but BYU let the game slip away in the end, though, with back-to-back attacking errors.
In the critical third game, the Cougars block came to life as BYU picked up five team blocks in the game. BYU built a 12-6 on lead, maintaining their advantage until the Aztecs slowly came back to eventually tie the game at 26-26. Anguelova then took control and continued her strong play on the night with back-to-back kills to put the Aztecs up 30-29 and giving them control of the match.
San Diego State now returns home for a match against conference foe Wyoming on Halloween night (Thursday, Oct. 31) at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.