Sept. 16, 2005
CLEVELAND - San Diego State got nine kills apiece from three players as it defeated Niagara, 3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-27) at the Medical Mutual CSU Invitational in Cleveland, Ohio, Friday afternoon. SDSU won for the thirds time in its last four outings to improve to 6-4 on the season. The Purple Eagles, meanwhile, dropped it second straight match to fall to 5-3.
Aztec outside hitter Brandie Molnar made her return to her home state a good one as she was one of those three SDSU players who recorded nine kills. She also contributed a pair of service aces, seven digs and three blocks on the evening as she hit .389 over the three games. Molnar, a native pf Springboro, Ohio, is in her first season at San Diego State after spending her freshman year at Ohio State.
Along with Molnar, right side hitter Audra Dent had nine kills and three blocks. Junior Melanie Greene also had a nine-block match and also had 10 digs.
Libero Aime Cordeiro maintained her conference-leading digs average with 19 while setters Kristen Castillo and Leah Lathrop had 25 and 18 assists respectively.
The first game of the match saw SDSU and Niagara play to an 18-18 deadlock before the Aztecs ran off seven straight points to take a 25-18 advantage. That run included a pair of kills from Greene and one apiece from Dent and middle blocker Lindsey Mahan.
In game two, the Purple Eagles came out quickly, running off the first four points of the contest. However, the Aztecs settled in and ran out to an 11-6 lead behind kills from Dent and Molnar. But Niagara came back to eventually take a 27-25 lead before a service error and four attack errors allowed SDSU to claim the victory.
In the third game, the Aztec built an early 6-1 lead and Niagara was unable to get closer than two points the rest of the way. Molnar had five kills and Melissa Stapley chipped in with four as the Aztecs claimed the game and match.
San Diego State continues play at the Medical Mutual CSU Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday (Sept. 17). In the morning, it will face off against Binghamton at 10:30 a.m. (EDT), then come back in the evening to take on host Cleveland State at 7:00 p.m. (EDT).