Oct. 16, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State wasted little time in taking care of Air Force on the volleyball court Friday night as it defeated the Falcons in straight sets (25-19, 25-12, 25-17) in Peterson Gym. The Aztecs hit .466 over the three sets, its highest attack percentage since hitting .473 against Harvard on Sept. 18, 2003.
With the win, the Aztecs moved to 8-10 on the season overall and 3-5 in the Mountain West Conference. The loss was the eighth in a row for Air Force, which saw its record fall to 8-12 (0-8 MWC).
Outside hitter Kyley Sexton led all players with 16 kills and was the lone athlete to hit double figures in kills on the night. The sophomore from Salem, Oregon, established a career high with a .714 hitting percentage and also contributed five digs.
Hannah Evans and Paije Pearson recorded nine kills apiece for SDSU as the former hit .500 for the match and the latter added eight digs, a pair of service aces and a block to her stat line.
The Aztecs' two conference stat leaders, setter Lauren Van Orden (assists) and libero Kristi Jackels (digs), also improved their season averages in their specialty categories. Van Orden (averaging 10.82 assists/set coming into the match) finished with 41 assists while Jackels (the league leader at 4.25 digs per set) notched 16 dugs against the Falcons.
Air Force was led by Michelle Harrington with nine kills, three blocks and a .333 hitting percentage while teammate Carolina Kurtz had eight kills and half a dozen digs. The Falcons were held to just a .155 team attack percentage for the match.
San Diego State jumped out to an early lead in the opening set, scoring five straight points at four-all to take a 9-4 lead. The Aztecs built their lead to as many as eight points as they hit .500 for the contest. Sexton led all players with five kills while Pearson and Evans had four apiece.
SDSU continued its hot hitting in set number two, compiling a .562 attack percentage in the game. The Aztecs took control early in the contest, again taking a 9-4 lead and outscoring the visitors by a two-to-one margin the rest of the way. Sexton again led the way for the home side with eight kills, no errors and a .800 hitting mark.
The third set was the closest of the match as the Falcons stayed close and trailed by just two at 17-15. At that point, the Aztecs scored three straight points on a pair of kills by Van Orden and an Air Force miscue to open up a five-point lead. Although SDSU cooled down to a .308 attack percentage in the contest, it held the Falcons to a .000 hitting mark.
San Diego State continues Mountain West Conference action next week when it travels to Las Vegas to face UNLV on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7:00 p.m. (PT).