Sept. 7, 2009
MORAGA, Calif. - San Diego State made its first-ever visit to Moraga, Calif., Monday afternoon as it dropped a four-set match to the Gaels of Saint Mary's College by scores of 27-25, 25-27, 25-16, 25-22. The loss dropped the Aztecs' record to 4-3 on the season as they concluded a stretch of seven straight matches on the road to open their 2009 campaign. With the victory, Saint Mary's improved to 4-1.
Lauren Salisbury and Kyley Sexton tied for team honors with 13 kills apiece while Paije Pearson also finished in double figures with 10. Sexton added eight digs and a service ace to her totals while Salisbury recorded three blocks.
Senior defensive specialist Courtney Lamphier set a personal career best with 11 digs over course of the match while libero Kristi Jackels had 17 to maintain her season average of over four per set. Sophomore setter Lauren Van Orden contributed 54 assists as SDSU turned in a season-high 58 kills as a team.
The first two sets were mirror images of each other as they went to extra points with each team winning once. In the opener, the teams were tied at 25-25 when a pair of SDSU hitting errors allowed the hosts to claim the 27-25 win. Set two again saw the teams knotted at 25-all, but this time the Aztecs got kills from Kelsey Manasco and Lauren Salisbury to claim the two-point victory.
In the third set, the teams traded points up until 12-12 when the Gaels scored four straight and slowly pulled away to win the contest by nine. San Diego could only muster 11 kills in the contest and hit just .161 compared to .455 by Saint Mary's.
Set number four was a tighter affair as the teams battled to 16-16. From there the Gaels scored four consecutive points, but SDSU eventually battled back to within a point at 23-22. St. Mary's, however, grabbed the next two points on a kill and an SDSU attack error to secure the match win.
San Diego State will have a chance to reverse Monday's outcome as it will fact Saint Mary's next Sunday, Sept. 13, in their 2009 home opener at 4:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym. Prior to that encounter, the Aztecs will host their annual alumni game on Friday night (Sept. 11) at 6:00 p.m.