Oct. 4, 2007
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State needed just 79 minutes to take care of the visiting Air Force Falcons in a 30-13, 30-16, 30-17 triumph Thursday evening in Peterson Gym. The victory gave Aztec head coach Mark Warner, now in his 13th season at SDSU, his 200th career win.
The Aztecs hit a season-high .421 as a team while improving to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force lost its fifth straight as it dropped to 7-12 (0-5 MWC).
SDSU sophomore Stephanie Darnall and redshirt freshman Hannah Evans had nine kills apiece to lead all players in the match. Darnall also had a pair of service aces, two digs and a block while hitting .538 over the three games. Evans finished with seven digs and a block along with a .400 attack percentage for the match.
The Aztecs, who rank 12th in the nation in blocking this week, totaled eight team blocks to two by the visitors. Freshman Lauren Salisbury had five while fellow freshman Kelsey Manasco and senior Lindsey Mahan chipped in with three apiece.
SDSU's setting combination of Leah Lathrop and Kristen Castillo accounted for 20 and 10 assists respectively.
Air Force was led by Katie Batchelder's eight kills as she accounted for a third of her team's put aways on the night. Setter Kim Kallabis had 18 assists, three aces and three digs for the Falcons as well.
San Diego State wasted little time in taking control in game one. With the score knotted at 3-3, the Aztecs scored nine of the next 11 points, building on that lead over the remainder of the contest. SDSU proved to be a model of efficiency in attack, hitting .562 for the game while holding the visitors to a -.273 percentage. Darnall and Mahan led SDSU with three kills apiece while Salisbury was in on three of the team's five blocks.
The second game was almost a re-run of the opening contest as San Diego State opened a quick 10-3 advantage, scoring seven straight points in the process behind the serving of Cordeiro. Evans recorded five kills while Sydney De Turk had four. The Aztecs hit .333 for the game compared to .103 for the Falcons.
Game three again saw SDSU build an early advantage, this time taking a 15-6 lead before going on to close out the match with a 13-point win. Darnall had four kills to lead the Aztecs while Batchelder recorded five of her eight total kills in the third game. Air Force had its best hitting game of the match with a .214 attack percentage, but SDSU hit .433 to win going away.
Up next for the Aztecs is another Mountain West Conference match as Wyoming will visit Peterson Gym on Saturday, Oct. 6, for an afternoon match scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.