Sept. 2, 2005
SAN DIEGO - After overcoming some first-game nerves, San Diego State cruised to a three-game victory over Liberty University (30-26, 30-15, 30-18) in the 2005 season opener for both squads. The match came during the annual Aztec Invitational being contested this weekend in Peterson Gym.
For the match, the Aztecs hit .319 as a team while holding the visitors to just a 0.64 hitting percentage. SDSU spread the ball around on offense, with junior Audra Dent pacing the team with nine kills. Both Melissa Stapley and Melanie Greene added eight while freshman Alicia Waller recorded seven kills in her collegiate debut.
In the first game, the Lady Flames had just nine kills, but numerous Aztec errors made the game close throughout. Greene paced SDSU with six of the team's 17 kills while Stapley added four.
The Aztecs turned up the offense in game two, hitting .483 as Dent and Waller had five and four kills respectively. The third game saw the Aztecs on the receiving end of some unforced errors as Liberty hit -.087. Dent (3) and Stapley (3) accounted for half of SDSU's kill total in the game.
SDSU used two setters during the match, with sophomore Kristen Castillo recording 17 and freshman Leah Lathrop notching 13. Libero Aime Cordeiro had a team-high 13 kills and also led the Aztecs with four services aces as the Aztecs had 11 aces on the afternoon.
San Diego State returns to the gym this evening when it takes on Southern Illinois at 7:00 p.m. In the first match of the tourney, Creighton defeated UC Riverside, 6-0 (30-15, 31-29, 30-22)