Sept. 8, 2007
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - San Diego State turned in a dominating performance early Saturday afternoon as it defeated Texas-Pan American, 3-0 (30-16, 30-16, 30-25) in second round action at the Islander Holiday Inn-Emerald Beach Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The win was third straight for the Aztecs as they improved to 6-2 on the season, their best mark to begin a campaign in six years. The Lady Broncs, meanwhile, saw their record fall to 2-9.
San Diego State had the upper hand in all phases of the match, recording a .252 attack percentage while holing UTPA to .000. SDSU also led in kills (52-28), assists (46-28), digs (65-55) and blocks (14.5-3.0).
Aztec senior outside hitter Stephanie Darnall was the lone player for either team to hit double figures in kills as she turned in her fifth double-double of 2007 by adding 12 digs. Setter Leah Lathrop notched her second double-double effort of the year with 22 assists and 10 digs over the three games.
Other offensive leaders for SDSU included middle blockers Lindsey Mahan (9 kills, 7 blocks) and Lauren Salisbury (9 kills, five blocks). In addition, freshman Kelsey Manasco made her first career start and responded with personal bests of eight kills, three blocks and a .462 attack percentage.
The opening game was the closest of the three initially as SDSU held a slight edge with a 15-14 lead at the mid-point of the contest. From there, the Aztecs scored the next nine straight behind three kills by Darnall. Manasco scored three of her team's final four points to secure the victory.
In game two, San Diego State took the lead for good at 2-1 and slowly built on that advantage to win by 14. The Aztecs won 13 of the game's final 16 points with Salisbury recording three kills and Mahan a pair during that span.
SDSU took control of the third game from the outset, building its lead to as many as eight points at 21-13 before comfortably closing out the match. Caitlin McMillan led the Aztecs as she record five kills.
SDSU's victory sets up a tournament championship showdown with Northern Illinois, a contest scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. (CDT) start this afternoon.