Aug. 30, 2006
SAN DIEGO - In its first match ever with the College of Charleston, San Diego State saw some good east coast volleyball as the visiting Cougars handed the Aztecs a four-game loss (30-22, 27-30, 30-28, 30-25) Wednesday evening in Peterson Gym.
It was the season opener for Charleston, which stopped in San Diego on its way to participate in the Cal State Fuller tourney later this week. The loss was the third for SDSU during is season-opening four-match home stand as it fell to 1-3 on the young season.
Senior Melanie Green led the Aztec attack, recording her first double-double of the year with a team-high 26 kills along with 13 digs. Teammate Audra Dent chipped in 11 kills while junior Vanessa Curtis set a career high with six blocks on the night.
One other bright spot for SDSU was the play of libero Aime Cordeiro, who set a new Mountain West Conference record with 39 digs. Here total bested the old league mark of 35 that she shared with Talaya Whitfield of TCU.
The visiting Cougars had five players finish in double figures in kills, led by the trio of Tiffany Blum (16), Deanna Patrick (13 and Annie Uthe (13). Both Emily Sawin (11 kills, 11 digs) and Alexis Lowes (12 kills, 11 digs) had double-doubles.
In the opening game, Charleston broke out to an 8-3 lead and never looked back en route to the eight-point win. That early Cougar run was paced by three kills by the Cougars' Blum, who led all players with six in the contest. Lindsey Mahan and Melanie Greene had four apiece for the Aztecs.
The second game saw the Aztecs run out to an 8-4 advantage before the visitors slowly closed the gap and knotted the score at 18-18. The teams stayed within two points of each other until 27-all. At that point, SDSU got a combination block from Caitlin McMillan and Vanessa Curtis, a kill by Greene and a setting error by the Cougars to even the match at 1-1. Charleston's Blum and SDSU's Curtis shared game honors with five kills each.
Game three was a heartbreaker for the Aztecs who found themselves behind 24-14, but mounted a huge comeback to close to within a point at 29-28. However, an untimely service error gave Charleston the game-winning point and a two-game to one lead in the match. Deanna Patrick led both teams with five kills, followed by SDSU's Stephanie Darnall with four.
After their narrow escape in the third game, College of Charleston took control of the fourth game when they grabbed the lead at 9-8 and built that advantage to as many as seven points before finishing out the match with a five-point victory. The Cougars Alexis Lowes and SDSU's Greene shared individual kill honors with six apiece.
San Diego State will now get set to travel east to participate in the Big Orange Invitational in Syracuse, N.Y. this weekend. The Aztecs open tournament play on Friday, Sept. 1, against New Hampshire at 5:00 p.m. (EDT).