Sept. 3, 2004
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State opened play at the annual Aztec Invitational with a 3-1 loss (24-30, 33-31, 30-22, 30-16) at the hands of Texas Tech inside Petersen Gym.
It was the season opener for the Red Raiders while the Aztecs saw their record dip to 0-2 on the young season. After falling behind midway through game one, SDSU was unable to rally to fell by six points before coming back to take game two in extra time at 33-31. However, the visitors controlled the final two games as the young Aztec squad was plagued by too many costly errors.
Junior outside hitter Melissa Stapley paced San Diego State with a career-high 17 kills while teammates Lindsey Mahan, Angela Verdenacci and Audra had eight apiece. Mahan led the Aztecs in hitting percentage for the second straight match as the freshman from Walla Walla, Wash. hit .385 for the match.
Another pair of freshman also turned in fine performances as libero Aime Cordeiro had 16 digs while setter Kristen Castillo contributed 41 assists.
As a team, SDSU hit .123 compared to .207 for the Red Raiders although the Aztecs out-blocked Texas Tech by an 11.5-10 margin. Ashley Bowker totaled six blocks while dent had five. Texas Tech had a pair of players in double figures in kills: Kelly Johnson (14) and Desiree Batista (11).
The Aztecs continue tourney play this evening when they face 18th-ranked UC Santa Barbara at 7:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.