Nov. 4, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State came from back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat 18th-ranked University of San Diego, 3-2 (23-30, 23-30, 30-24, 30-25, 15-9), Tuesday night at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion. In doing so, Aztecs handed the Toreros their first home loss of the year. The match marked the first time the Aztecs have come back from a two-game deficit to win a match since they defeated Northern Arizona on Oct. 25, 1999.
SDSU (15-11) was paced by the hitting of senior Melissa Cansdale, who tallied season-high 11 kills along with seven blocks and a .348 hitting percentage. Aspen McPartland had 13 kills on the night while Kara Moriarty and Robyn Gregg contributed 13 and 12 digs respectively.
In addition, Megan Schauermann, who ranks 10th nationally in blocking this week, established a new career high with 13 blocks (1 solo, 12 assists). As a team, San Diego State out-blocked USD 20-5.
The Toreros (17-7), meanwhile, had four players finish the match in double figures in kills, led by Devon Forster with 27 and Ryan Maspero with 19. Forster completed a double-double with 20 digs while teammate Jackie Bernardin led all players with 22. Sophomore setter Lindsey Sherburne handed out a career-high 76 assists.
San Diego (17-7) raced out to an early lead and was in position to sweep San Diego State (15-11) for the second time in as many meetings, but the Aztecs used 37 blocks to stave off elimination and capture one of its biggest win of the season. SDSU never relinquished the momentum after winning a closely contested game three, going on to win convincingly and leading by as many as eight points in the decisive fifth game.
Behind a balanced attack, USD cruised to victory in both games one and two. The Toreros opened up an 11-3 lead in the first game and led 5-0 in game two. The San Diego State defense would step up in the final three frames, with Aztec senior Megan Schauermann blocking a match-high 13 to limit the host Toreros to a .068 hitting percentage in game three, .209 in game four and -.056 in game five.
San Diego State will now resume league play as it travels to Colorado Springs on Friday (Nov. 7) to take on Air Force at 7:00 p.m. (MST) for a Mountain West Conference match.