Aug. 30, 2003
SAN DIEGO - After dropping its season opener in three games a day earlier, San Diego State came back on Saturday to defeat UC Riverside, 3-0 (30-25, 30-17, 30-15), in Peterson Gym in the final match of the SDSU Invitational. With the victory, the Aztecs evened their record at 1-1 as did the Highlanders, who had opened with a five-game win over Rice on Friday.
Three Aztecs finished the game in double figures in kills, led by 11 from Aspen McPartland, who also recorded a double-double with 11 digs while hitting .714 with a team-high five blocks. Kara Moriarty (.364 attack percentage) and Megan Schauermann (.563) had 10 kills apiece.
UCR's Rosanna Parizek had 10 kills and hit .318 for UC Riverside, which never seemed to get into the offensive rhythm it showed in its previous match.
Unlike Friday night, San Diego State was effective both on attack and in its blocking. SDSU hit .398 over the three games and recorded a total of nine team blocks. The visitors hit just .170 for the match and had just one block on the day.
The first game of the match was an evenly played affair that saw the Aztecs run out to a 20-15 lead and maintain that margin over the rest of the game. SDSU got five kills from Schauermann, but hit just .231 as a team for the game.
Unlike the opening contest. San Diego State controlled the action over most of games two and three. An Aztec run of 9-3 midway though the second game gave SDSU a 24-15 lead. The third game saw the Aztecs take a commanding 20-10 advantage and go on to the 15-point win.
Up next for San Diego State is a trip to Tucson, where it will play in the Wildcat Classic at the University of Arizona on Thursday and Friday (Sept. 4-5). In addition to the host school, SDSU will face Santa Clara, Miami and Rhode Island. Arizona and Santa Clara are both ranked in the preseason polls.