Aug. 29, 2009
SEATTLE, Wash. - After the dropping the opening set, San Diego State came back to win the next three as it defeated San Jose State, 3-1 (18-25, 25-12, 25-15, 25-22), in day two action at The Invitational in Seattle, Washington. The victory was the second straight for the Aztecs (2-0) to open the season while the Spartans (1-1) lost for the first time in 2009.
Hannah Evans led SDSU with 16 kills, a total that tied her career best which she set during the 2007 campaign against Hofstra. She recorded the team's first double-double of the year by adding 14 digs to her stat line.
Junior Lauren Salisbury recorded 10 kills for the second consecutive match while hitting a team-high .348. She also had six blocks and is averaging 1.57 per set over San Diego State's first two contests.
San Jose State got off to a good start in the match as it never trailed during the opening set. The Aztecs were able to come back and tie the contest at 16-all, but from there the Spartans ran off the next four points en route to the seven-point victory.
SDSU took control of the match in the second set as it held the Spartans to just eight kills and a -.032 hitting percentage. Salisbury and Evans had three kills apiece to lead the Aztecs as they evened the match at one game apiece.
In set three it was Paije Pearson who paced the SDSU offense as she notched five kills and added a pair of blocks. The Aztecs jumped out quickly, taking a 10-0 lead on a pair of kill by Evans and three service aces by Andrea Hannasch. They maintained that advantage the rest of the way to go up two sets to one.
San Diego State closed out the contest with a narrow three-point win in the fourth set as Evans contributed six kills and five digs to lead the way. With the score knotted at 22-22, the Aztecs got the final three points on a Spartan attack error plus kills by Kyley Sexton and Evans.
SDSU concludes tournament play with a match against fourth-ranked Washington this evening at 7:00 p.m. at UW's Bank of America Arena.