Nov. 8, 2008
SAN DIEGO - Brigham Young overcame late San Diego State leads in the final two sets as it defeated the Aztecs, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 26-24), Saturday afternoon in Peterson Gym. The victory provided a measure of revenge for the Cougars, who lost to SDSU in Provo earlier this season.
The win enabled BYU to improve its overall record to 12-11 and 5-8 in the Mountain West Conference. For San Diego State, it marked the first time it had dropped back-to-back matches in over a month as its record fell to 8-15 (5-8 MWC).
The Aztecs were led by freshman outside hitter Kyley Sexton, who finished with a match-high 17 kills while hitting .500 over the three sets. Sexton accounted for almost half of her team's kills (36) on the day as SDSU was able to muster just a .093 attack percentage to .325 for the Cougars.
Stephanie Darnall added five kills, three digs and a block with teammates Lauren Salisbury and Bailee Hellwig notching three blocks apiece. Salisbury and Lauren Van Orden each had a pair of service aces as the Aztecs had six for the match, their second-highest total this season.
For Brigham Young, Kayla Walker took team honors with 11 kills and five blocks. Teammates Bryn Porter and Rachel Dyer chipped in with eight kills apiece and also contributed four and three blocks respectively. Ashton Hosford had eight blocks as the Cougars recorded 11 team blocks to seven for the Aztecs.
The visitors came out strong in the opening set, opening up an 11-4 lead and coasting to the eight-point victory. Sexton accounted for eight of SDSU's 12 kills in the contest, but the Aztecs were unable to overcome BYU's .458 attack percentage.
The next set saw San Diego State lead by as many as four points midway through the contest, only to see BYU work its way back to tie it at 19-19. From there, the Cougars scored six of the set's final seven points on a pair of kills by Walker, three SDSU hitting errors and a game-winning put away by Dyer.
In the third set, San Diego State took the lead at 13-12 and built it into a five-point advantage at 18-13 before BYU once again began a comeback. Trailing 22-20, the Cougars knotted the score on an SDSU service error and an Aztec attack error. After trading points during the next four rallies, the visitors clinched the set and match with back-to-back scores on a kill by Porter and an SDSU attack error.
San Diego State will now prepare for its final Mountain West Conference road swing of the season beginning with a match at league co-leader Colorado State on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7:00 p.m. (MST) in Fort Collins.