Sept. 23, 2006
SAN DIEGO - The University of Utah showed why it is the 18th-ranked team in the nation Saturday afternoon as it defeated San Diego State, 3-0 (30-25, 30-18, 30-20) in a Mountain West Conference match played in SDSU's Peterson Gym. The victory kept the Utes perfect 4-0 in league play at 4-0 as they improved to 11-2 overall. SDSU, meanwhile, was swept for the first time in 2006 and saw its record drop to 6-9 (0-3 MWC).
It was dominating performance by Utah, especially after the first game, which was the closest of the three. The visitors hit .442 for the match and had an attack percentage well over the .400 mark in each game.
Four Utes finished in double figures in kills, led by Airial Salvo with 15 and Kathryn Lovell with 13. Lori Baird and Whitney Webb had 11 apiece for Utah, which held a 62-41 advantage over the Aztecs for the match.
Melanie Greene was the lone SDSU player to crack the double figure mark in kills with 13 as she also added eight digs while hitting .300. Freshman Stephanie Darnall chipped in with nine kills, six digs and a pair of blocks.
Elsewhere, Aztec middle blocker Kelley Wahlin led all players with five blocks. It was the only area in which SDSU was superior to the Utes, recording 7.5 team blocks to seven for Utah. Wahlin also chipped in with six kills and had a .455 attack
Game one was an evenly-contested affair that saw the teams in a dead heat at 16-16. From there, Utah ran off seven straight points led by four kills by Lovell. The Aztecs could get no closer than four the rest of the way as the Utes recorded the five-point win. SDSU's Greene and Utah's Lovell finished the game with six kills apiece to lead their respective teams.
The second game was almost a carbon copy of the first. With the score knotted at 12-12, Utah scored eight of the next nine points to take what proved to be an insurmountable 20-13 lead. Half of those eight points came on a pair of kills by Lovell and one apiece by Salvo and Baird. That trio along with teammate Chelsey Sandberg notched four kills apiece in the contest. Greene and Darnall had three apiece to lead the Aztecs.
Game three saw the Utes exert lead from start to finish as they dominated the contest. The visitor jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead and never looked back while closing out the match. Salvo had six kills to lead Utah while Webb and Baird had four apiece. SDSU's Greene accounted for four of her teams 16 kills in the game.
Up next for San Diego State is a trip to Albuquerque where they will face league foe New Mexico on Friday, Sept. 29, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).