Nov. 10, 2006
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State came back from a two games to one deficit, then rallied from four points back in the fifth game only to come up just short in a loss to Colorado State Friday evening in Peterson Gym. The Rams claimed the match win by scores of 30-21, 29-31, 30-20, 26-30, 15-13 as they improved to 17-6 overall and 11-2 in the Mountain West Conference. SDSU, meanwhile, saw its record fall to 10-16 (4-10 MWC).
Aztec outside hitter Melanie Greene led all players with 22 kills on the night and added 14 digs to record her 11th double-double of the season. The 22 kills was a career high for the senior from Nampa, Idaho as she also contributed a pair of blocks while hitting .422.
SDSU had three other players reach the double figure mark in kills led by Audra Dent with 11. In addition to Dent, Lindsey Mahan and Stephanie Darnall added 10 apiece, with Darnall also recording 19 digs for the 10th double-double effort of her freshman campaign.
Libero Aime Cordeiro led all players with 25 digs over the five games while freshman Bailee Hellwig matched her season high with seven total blocks.
The visiting Rams also had four players in double figures in kills with Katherine Whitney and Mekana Barnes finishing with 18 and 17 respectively. Whitney completed a double-double of her own with 14 digs.
In the opening game, SDSU ran out to a quick 4-0 lead, but Colorado State slowly came back into the contest, taking the lead at 7-6. From there the Rams slowly built on that advantage, eventually pulling away for the nine-point victory. Barnes had seven kills to lead the visitors while Darnall and Greene had four apiece for the Aztecs.
Game two saw San Diego State come back from a 17-13 deficit to knot the score at 17-all. From that point the teams were never separated by more than one point until, at 29-all, a kill by Darnall and a CSU attack error gave SDSU the two-point win. Greene led the Aztecs with nine kills and hit .667 in the game.
Colorado State came out after the break and quickly took control of game three. SDSU stayed close after falling behind at 7-6, but the Rams scored 10 of the contest's final 13 points to win it comfortably. Whitney led all players with eight kills in the game as the Rams 22 kills doubled the home side's total.
The fourth game was a seesaw affair that saw the Aztecs down late by a score of 21-20. From there, they scored three straight points and never trailed, taking a four-point win on a game-winning kill by Mahan, who along with Darnall and Greene recorded four kills in the contest.
In the decisive fifth game, San Diego State found itself it a quick 3-0 hole and could never quite recover. Down 13-9, the Aztecs rallied for three consecutive points on a kill by Mahan and a pair of Colorado State attack errors. After the teams traded points to give the Rams a 14-13 lead, an Aztec kill attempt landed just long, allowing CSU to record the five-game match victory.
Up next for the San Diego State is a home match against Air Force on Sunday, Nov. 12, at noon in Peterson Gym.