Sept. 7, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State got double-figure kill performances from four players and overcame a slow start to defeat Cal State Fullerton, 3-1 (25-30, 30-22, 30-22, 30-23), Wednesday night in Peterson Gym. The loss ended a short two-match losing streak for the Aztecs (3-2) and also stopped the Titans' (3-2) three-match win streak. Three Aztecs hit over the .400 mark during the four games as SDSU gained more control of the match as it progressed.
Senior Melissa Stapley led all players with 18 kills on the evening, hitting .484 for the match. In addition, both Audra Dent and Lindsey Mahan matched their career bests with 14 and 12 kills respectively while middle blocker Lindsey Noll contributed 10 kills. Mahan had a team-best .579 attack percentage while Noll (.529) and Dent (.429) were also impressive.
On the defensive side, setter Kristen Castillo, libero Aime Cordeiro and outside hitter Alicia Waller had 10 digs apiece. The Aztecs also turned in a season-high eight team blocks, led individually by Noll with five.
Cal State Fullerton came out quickly in game one of the match, hitting .452 as a team. Although SDSU hit .324 in the opening contest, 15 Aztec errors were responsible for half of the Titan's point total.
The second game was evenly played over the first third with the visitors moving out to an 11-10 lead. At that point, SDSU went on a run, taking eight of the next nine points to make it 18-12. Stapley took charge with eight kills to lead a resurgent SDSU side to the win.
Game three was close affair that found the Aztecs holding a slim 20-18 lead. Again they put together a small run to take a 24-19 advantage en route to taking a two-games-to-one lead. SDSU used a balanced attack, getting four kills apiece from Mahan, Dent, Noll and Stapley. As a team, the Aztecs hit a match-high .556 for the game.
San Diego State came out for the fourth game looking to take charge, and they did, running out to a 20-10 lead. Again the kills were spread evenly with Mahan and Stapley notching four apiece as the Aztecs out-hit the Titans .324 to .125 in that deciding game.
Up next for SDSU is a trip to Lubbock, Texas, where they will play in the Red Raider Round-Up hosted by Texas Tech beginning Friday (Wept. 10). The Aztecs' opening match in the tourney will be against the host school at 11:00 a.m. (CDT) Friday morning followed by contests vs. Boise State that evening at 5:00 p.m. (CDT)