Sept. 3, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State dropped its second match of the Aztec Invitational Volleyball Tournament when it fell to Creighton, 3-0, (31-29, 30-19, 30-27) Saturday afternoon in Peterson Gym. The loss evened SDSU's season record at 2-2 while the Bluejays improved to 4-1. In the process, Creighton claimed the tourney title by finishing with a perfect 3-0 mark.
Bluejay hitters Leah Ratzlaff and Kelly Goc led all players with 15 kills apiece while teammate Abby Baumann chipped in a dozen. As a team, Creighton hit .347 over the three games while holding the Aztecs to a .220 attack percentage.
San Diego State freshman outside hitter Alicia Waller had her second consecutive double-figure kill match with 11, and recorded her first double-double as a collegian by adding 10 digs. Audra Dent added nine kills, three assists and two blocks.
Aztec libero Aime Cordeiro had another fine match in the back row. Her 19 digs followed up her 20-dig performance earlier in the day against UC Riverside.
The threesome of Waller, Dent and Cordeiro were named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the event.
The first game of the match saw the score tie on 12 occasions with five lead changes. The Aztecs fought back from a 24-27 deficit to take a 29-28 lead, but were unable to close out the contest as Creighton Leah Ratzlaff tied the score with a kill and won it with a block assist.
Game two was controlled by the Bluejays as they jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and were never caught. CU's Kelly Goc led the way with six kills and a pair of blocks while the Aztecs were paced by Waller's four kills.
The third game was another tight contest as the lead changed hands several times before the game was tied at 25-25. Creighton then scored three straight points and went on to the three-point win to take the match. For the Aztecs, senior Angela Verdenacci made her first appearance of the match in the third game and contributed six kills on nine attempts with no errors.
While Creighton claimed the tournament title, UC Riverside finished second by winning three of its four matches followed by SDSU at 2-2. Fourth place went to Southern Illinois (1-2) with Liberty going winless in its four matches. Creighton and Southern Illinois played only three matches as they are both members of the Missouri Valley Conference and chose not to play each other during the tournament.)
Up next for San Diego State is a match against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 6:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
Aztec Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP - Leah Ratzlaff (Creighton)
Kelly Goc (Creighton)
Korie Lebeda (Creighton)
Valerie Bueno (UC Riverside)
Jamie DeKiewiet (UC Riverside)
Katy DeWulf (Southern Illinois)
Alicia Waller (San Diego State)
Audra Dent (San Diego State)
Libero - Aime Cordeiro (San Diego State)