Oct. 29, 2009
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State volleyball team saw its four-match win streak come to an abrupt end as it fell to TCU in four sets (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-12) Thursday night in Peterson Gym. The loss dropped SDSU under the .500 mark at 10-11 as it fell to 4-6 in Mountain West Conference play.
The Aztecs were led by a trio of players in double figures in kills including Hannah Evans (15), Andrea Hannasch (11) and Kyley Sexton (10). Evans added 11 digs to her stat line to complete her fourth double-double of the season and second in two matches.
Sophomore setter Lauren Van Orden also recorded a double-double effort, her fourth of the year, with 44 assists and a dozen digs. Paije Pearson set a career high with 11 digs while libero Kristi Jackels reached the 20-dig plateau for the fifth time in 2009 as she finished with 23.
The Horned Frogs (20-5; 9-3 MWC) committed just nine errors on the night and used six service aces and 10 team blocks to subdue the Aztecs. Irene Hester (15 kills, 10 digs) and Lauren Otto (12 kills, 12 digs), both had double-double performances while setter Megan Munce had eight kills, 31 assists, 16 digs, four blocks and three service aces.
TCU came out strong and took control of the opening set as it grabbed the lead at 2-1 and never looked back as it eventually built its advantage to 21-9 before SDSU had a late offensive run. Hester led the Horned Frog attack with six kills as the visitors hit .341 in the contest while holding SDSU to a .130 attack percentage.
The second set was a much closer affair that saw the teams dead even at 15-15. At that point, an Aztec service error and a pair of hitting miscues gave the visitors a three-point lead. SDSU was able to get within one at 20-19, but TCU scored five of the next six points, closing out the contest with three straight including a kill by Hester and a pair of service aces by Munce.
The third set was the closest of the match as the teams were never separated by more than three points. Although San Diego State led most of the way, the Horned Frogs knotted the score at 20-all. After the teams traded two points apiece to make it 22-22, the Aztecs grabbed three straight on a TCU service error and attack error plus a set-winning kill by Andrea Hannasch.
Set number four was all TCU as it replicated its effort in the first set, running out to a 21-9 lead. The Horned Frogs did not commit an error in the contest while hitting .429 as they led from start to finish to close out the match.
San Diego will continue home action when its hosts conference rival New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 1:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.