Sept. 9, 2006
EUGENE, Ore. - A valiant comeback effort by the San Diego State volleyball squad came up short as it fell to Oregon in five games (24-30, 30-25, 22-30, 30-20, 6-15) during the second round of the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational at Eugene, Ore., Saturday evening. The win kept the Ducks undefeated in 2006 as they improved to 7-0. The loss dropped the Aztecs to 4-5 on the year.
Senior outside hitter Melanie Greene led SDSU with 17 kills and 17 digs a she recorded a double-double for the second night in a row. Over the weekend's two matches, she averaged 4.0 kills and 4.1 digs per game. For her efforts during the Invitational, Greene was named to the all-tournament team, the lone Aztec to be so honored.
Freshman Stephanie Darnall also ended the night with a double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 19 digs. In addition, junior middle blocker Kelley Wahlin contributed a career-high 10 blocks while the Aztecs' other middle blocker, Bailee Hellwig, hit .385 with six kills and also had five blocks.
Aztec Libero Aime Cordeiro had another solid game in the back row with 19 digs and also had a career-best seven service aces as SDSU had 11 on the evening, a season team high. Senior Audra Dent finished in double figures in kills and added six blocks.
Oregon had three players hit 20 or more kills in the match led by Erin Little with 23. Teammates Mira Djuric and Sonja Newcombe had 21 and 20 respectively.
San Diego State found itself down two games to one when it rallied to win game four by a 10-point margin as Greene had seven of her kills and hit .500 in the contest.
However, the fifth and deciding game was all Oregon. With the score tied 3-3, the Ducks ran off seven straight points with four coming on kills by Newcombe to effectively put the match out of reach. The home side hit .435 in the game with 11 kills while SDSU had a .000 attack percentage and only four kills.
San Diego State now has a short break before it begins its 2006 Mountain West Conference schedule when it visits UNLV on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 7:00 p.m. (PDT).