Nov. 19, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State continued its strong second half of the season as it won for the eighth time in its last 11 outings with a four set (25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 25-21) victory over Utah Thursday evening in Peterson Gym. Four Aztecs finished the night in double figures in kills with two of them either setting or tying their Aztec career highs.
With the win, the San Diego State moved over the .500 mark for the season at 14-13 and improved to 7-8 in Mountain West Conference play. For the Utes, it marked the fourth loss in their last five matches as they fell to 16-11 (9-6 MWC).
SDSU freshman Andrea Hannasch and junior Hannah Evans led all players with 16 kills apiece. For Hannasch, it marked a career high as she hit .500 and added three blocks. In addition to matching her season and career high in kills for the third time this year, Evans also equaled her personal best with six blocks. The 19 points scored by each player were also career highs.
Middle blocker Lauren Salisbury helped the Aztec cause with 15 kills, six blocks and a .394 attack percentage while teammate Kyley Sexton also finished in double figures in kills with 10.
Utah's Sarah Hibbert tallied 15 kills and hit a career-best .577 with Chelsey Sandberg adding 11 kills as the pair accounted for half of their teams kills over the four sets.
San Diego State got off to a quick start in the opening set, taking a 6-1 lead and increasing it to as many as eight points at 13-5. Utah was able to close the gap to three at 16-13, but could get no closer as the Aztecs took control at 18-15 by winning seven of the final eight points. Evans led all players with six kills as SDSU hit .500 for the contest compared to .154 for the Utes.
The second set was close from start to finish with the teams separated by three points or less the entire way. San Diego State got the upper hand late when it led 24-22 and had two chances to close out the contest. Two Aztec hitting miscues allowed the visitors to tie the game at 24-all, but a pair of kills from Salisbury gave SDSU the two-point victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set number three was just as close if not closer that the previous contest as the teams stayed within a point of each other after SDSU held a brief two-point advantage at 6-4. Utah finally managed to go up by a pair at 23-21 and the teams split the next four points to give the Utes the set win at 25-23.
The fourth set was another competitive affair that featured four lead changes and saw the scored tied on seven occasions. The Aztecs went ahead for good at 17-16 and scored the ensuing three points on kills by Salisbury and Paije Pearson plus a Ute hitting miscue. SDSU maintained that four-point edge the rest of the way with Sexton recording the final two kills of the set to secure the victory for her team.
Up next for San Diego State is its season home finale on Saturday, Nov. 21, when Brigham Young visits Peterson Gym for a 1:00 p.m. start. The match will be the final home appearance for five Aztec athletes and they will be honored prior to the match.