Nov. 21, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State finished out its 2009 home season with a four-set loss to Mountain West Conference foe Brigham Young by scores of 25-23, 13-25, 25-22, 25-23. The loss meant the Aztecs finish in sixth place in the final league standings with a 7-9 mark in MWC play and a 14-14 overall record. BYU, which improved to 15-13 overall and 9-7 in the conference, finishes the season in fifth place.
The Aztecs were led by sophomore Kyley Sexton who equaled her career high with 18 kills while hitting .342. In addition, she set new career bests with 17 digs, three service aces and 22 points in the match.
Freshman middle blocker Andrea Hannasch also tied her personal best with 16 kills for the second consecutive match while adding a pair of blocks and a .370 attack percentage. Libero Kristi Jackels led all players with 24 digs over the four sets while teammate Lauren Salisbury was the top blocker on the day with five.
SDSU finished the match on top in kills (56-46), hitting percentage (.208 to .190), assists (54-43) and digs (70-54). The Cougars held the upper hand in both service aces (11-7) and team blocks (10-7).
The first set saw eight tied scores and four lead changes with the Brigham Young going ahead for good at 21-20 and winning the ensuing point to go up by two. From there the teams traded points with Sexton notching SDSU's three kills, but they weren't enough as the Cougars held on for the two-point win.
After hitting just .154 in the opening set, San Diego State came out on fire in the second and dominated from start to finish while compiling a .458 attack percentage. The Aztecs jumped out to a 10-3 lead and built that to a 23-10 advantage en route to the 12-point victory. Sexton led SDSU with four kills in the contest after logging seven in the opening set.
After the break, the third set turned into the closest of the match as it featured 15 ties and six lead changes. With the score knotted at 22-22, the visitors scored three straight points on a pair of kills by Kayla Walker and a service ace by Kiana Rogers. Sexton added to her kill total as she led all players with five in the contest.
Brigham Young held a slim lead through most of the fourth set after forging ahead at 13-12. The Cougars extended their advantage over the remainder of the contest, building a 24-18 lead and seemingly ready to close out the match. The Aztecs, however, had other ideas as they scored five in a row before their comeback fell short when Nicole Warner notched the match-winning kill to give BYU the victory.
San Diego State concludes its 2009 season with a match at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 6:00 p.m.