Nov. 22, 2007
LAS VEGAS - Top-seeded Colorado State proved too much for San Diego State as it defeated the Aztecs, 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 30-19) in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference volleyball tournament Thursday evening at UNLV's Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. It marked the fifth time in the nine-year history of the championship tourney that the Aztecs were eliminated by CSU. The loss brought an end to SDSU's 2007 campaign as it finished with an overall record of 13-16.
The Rams, the regular-season conference champion and ranked 20th nationally this week, improved to 22-6 while advancing to a tournament semifinal match with Utah on Friday.
Redshirt freshman Hannah Evans led the Aztecs with nine kills and added 11 digs and three blocks to her final stat line. Lauren Salisbury finished the evening with eight kills and four blocks while setters Leah Lathrop and Kristen Castillo recorded 14 and 13 assists respectively.
Colorado State was paced by MWC Player of the Year Mekana Barnes, who notched a match-high 15 kills along with five blocks and five digs. Teammates Tonya Mokelki and Tessa Nelson added 12 kills apiece with libero Jamie Strauss chipping in with 8 kills and 15 digs.
The Rams finished the match with 60 kills and a .254 attack percentage while the Aztecs had 33 kills and a .075 hitting percentage. SDSU led in team blocks with 11 to CSU's 10, the 21st time this season it has recorded more than its opponent in a match.
After losing the opening point of the match, Colorado State took a 2-1 lead and built its advantage en route to the eight-point win in the first game. Tessa Nelson led all players with six kills in the contest while Salisbury, Evans and Caitlin McMillan had four each for San Diego State.
Game two saw the Rams again take the early lead and jump out to a 7-4 advantage, but the Aztecs fought back to tie the contest and take the lead at 16-15. However, after a timeout, Colorado State came back to score eight straight points. Included in that run were a pair of kills, a service ace and five SDSU attack errors.
The Rams again got off to a quick start in the third game, taking a 5-1 lead. The Aztecs closed to within three at 8-5, but CSU had too much firepower and eventually went to claim an 11-point win in the game and secure the match victory. Barnes had six kills for Colorado State while Evans led SDSU with four.
The loss brought the curtain down on the collegiate careers of six Aztec players including two who will leave their names in the SDSU record book. Libero Aime Cordeiro set the school and conference records for digs in a match with 44 vs. Northern Illinois in September and also holds the Aztec marks for digs in a season (658 in 2007) and career (1,974). In addition, setter Kristen Castillo ends her career ranked fifth in school history in assists with 2,656.