Aug. 24, 2007
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State volleyball team showed a never-say-die attitude as it came from behind to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 3-2 (35-33, 23-30, 13-30, 30-27, 15-9) Friday evening in Peterson Gym. The match was the season opener for both sides and was played as part of the annual Aztec Invitational hosted by SDSU.
The win over the Gauchos broke a streak of 10 straight losses by the Aztecs at the hands of UCSB. SDSU's last win over Santa Barbara, which received votes in the 2007 AVCA/CSTV preseason national poll, had come during the 1988 campaign.
Sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Darnall led the San Diego State offense as she recorded a double-double effort with 16 kills and 19 digs. Redshirt freshman Hannah Evans, making her collegiate debut, also had a double-double with a dozen kills and 17 digs.
Others in double figures in kills for SDSU included senior middle blocker Lindsey Mahan with 14 and freshman Lauren Salisbury with 10. Mahan also contributed seven blocks while senior Kelley Wahlin totaled 10 on the night.
Senior libero Aime Cordeiro led all players with 21 digs despite playing just the final three games of the match. She is coming off an ankle injury suffered in practice, but appeared to be in midseason form after entering the contest midway through the third game.
The visitors were led by outside hitters Rebecca Saraceno and Lauren McLaughlin, who finished the evening with 22 kills and 12 digs apiece. Teammate Brett Quirarte added 17kills and six blocks.
In game one, UCSB led most of the way and looked to win the game with a 29-25 advantage late. However, kills by Mahan and Evans plus a pair of Gaucho hitting errors knotted the score at 29-29. The Aztecs then staved off four more game points before a kill by setter Leah Lathrop and a Santa Barbara attack error gave SDSU the 35-33 victory. Mahan led the Aztecs with six kills while Darnall and Salisbury contributed five apiece.
In the second game, the Gauchos ran out to a four-point lead at 10-6 and maintained that pace for the remainder of the contest as the Aztecs could get no closer than two in a 30-23 UCSB win. Saraceno had a game-high seven kills to lead Santa Barbara while Darnall added four to her total for SDSU.
Game three saw UC Santa Barbara score 10 of the first 11 points and never look back en route to the 17-point victory. McLaughlin led the Gauchos with nine kills, two more than the Aztecs totaled for the contest.
After watching San Diego State take an 11-9 lead in the fourth game, UCSB ran off six straight points and built its lead to 21-16 before the Aztecs began their comeback. SDSU tied the game at 25-25, and after the teams traded points, San Diego State ran off three straight on kills by Darnall and Evans before Mahan's fourth kill of the game gave the home side the victory.
That set up the decisive fifth game in which UC Santa Barbara took a 7-4 lead before SDSU called a timeout. Out of that break, Cordeiro served four straight points to give the Aztecs an 8-7 advantage. After UCSB tied the score at eight, San Diego State notched a pair of points to take the lead for good.
With SDSU holding a one-point edge at 10-9, it proceeded to run off the final five points of the match to secure the match. Those last five points included a pair of kills by Evans, one from Sydney De Turk and the match winner by setter Kristen Castillo.
Statistically, the match was fairly even, with Santa Barbara having the advantage in kills (72-70) and assists (66-62) while SDSU led in digs (87-71) and blocks (19-13). The Gauchos hits .182 over the five games compared to .177 for the Aztecs.
Action in the 2007 Aztec Invitational continues with four matches on Saturday beginning with Fairfield taking on San Diego State at 10:00 a.m. The rest of the schedule includes Long Island vs. UC Santa Barbara (1:00 p.m.), UC Santa Barbara vs. Fairfield (4:00 p.m.) and Long Island vs. San Diego State (7:00 p.m.).