Oct. 30, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State came within a couple of points of upsetting the 16th-ranked team in the nation as it fell to Colorado State, 3-2 (30-20, 27-30, 27-30, 30-28, 12-15) in a Mountain West Conference match Thursday evening in Peterson Gym. With the victory, the Rams improve to 19-4 on the season and remain perfect in league play at 10-0 San Diego State, which fell to 13-11 overall and 4-5 in the MWC, saw its 10-match home conference winning streak come to an end.
SDSU was led by the hitting of Aspen McPartland and Kara Moriarty. McPartland finished the night with a team-high 17 kills and a .451 hitting percentage along with 12 digs. Moriarty, who hit .316 for the match, also recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs.
In addition, Zlatina Anguelova had a dozen kills and 10 digs while setter Sara Engstrom tied a career best with seven blocks and a set season personal high with 12 digs.
Five Rams finished the contest in double figures in kills led by Becky Sarauer (20) and Casey Bauer (15). Defensively, setter Melissa Courtney and libero Lindsey Kerr contributed 14 digs apiece.
San Diego came out ready to play in game one, and ran out to a 10-5 lead behind the hitting of McPartland and the blocking of Schauermann and Cansdale. McPartland led all players with four kills while Schauermann accounted for four blocks. SDSU hit .346 for the game while holding the Rams to just a .029 hitting percentage.
In the second game, it was CSU that came out on fire, jumping out to a 10-3 lead with Shirley and Sarauer leading the way. SDSU fought back to eventually tie the contest at 26-26, but the visitors scored four of the next five points to win it. Sarauer had six kills over the course of the game while Bri Frech contributed three blocks. Anguelova led the Aztecs with five kills.
Game three saw Colorado State run off seven straight points after the Aztec took a quick 1-0 lead. However, SDSU came right back to win seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 8-8. The teams traded points until the Rams took the lead for good at 17-16, and then held off the Aztecs for the 30-27 win.
Game four was a tight affair with Colorado State maintaining a slim lead through most of the contest. After SDSU battled back to knot the score at 26-26, the teams traded two points apiece before the Aztecs got kills from Anguelova and Moriarty to secure a two-point victory.
In the deciding fifth game, SDSU got out to a 5-1 lead before the Rams came back to even the score at 10-10. The Aztecs won the next point, but then saw CSU reel off four straight points and go on to the victory.
Up next for San Diego State is another conference match as the Wyoming Cowgirls visit Peterson Gym on Saturday, Nov. 1, for a 7:900 p.m. match.