Aug. 27, 2010
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State volleyball team got its new season off to a positive start with a 3-0 (25-21, 29-27, 30-28) victory over Cal State Northridge Friday night in Peterson Gym. The match was the season opener for both schools and concluded the day's action in the 2010 Aztec Invitational presented by the Holiday Inn Mission Valley/Stadium.
Junior outside hitters Paije Pearson and Kyley Sexton led the Aztec offensive attack with 13 and 10 kills respectively to lead all players in the match. Pearson also had six digs and a service ace while Sexton contributes a pair of blocks, five digs and an ace.
Monica McFarland and Nicole Allen led the Matadors with nine kills while teammate Karina Woehrstein chipped in with a dozen digs. CSUN finished with a .250 hitting percentage compared to a .211 mark by the Aztecs.
But it was the play of some of SDSU's newcomers that got the attention of the 632 fans in attendance. True freshmen setter Johnna Fouch and outside hitter Raegan Shelton both started the contest and were impressive.
Fouch finished with 40 assists over the three sets and added a match-high 12 digs to record a double-double in her collegiate debut. Shelton, meanwhile, had eight kills, two digs and pair of blocks while hitting .316 in the two sets in which she appeared. Highly-touted freshman outside hitter Summer Nash did not see action until the third set, but she stood out in her brief stint with five kills and a block along with a .500 attack percentage.
In the opening set, San Diego State fell behind early by as many as six points at 13-7, but fought back to knot the score at 16-all. The Aztecs took the lead for good at 18-17 and went on to score seven of the set's final 11 points. Shelton led the way with five kills while Fouch had 11 assists and five digs.
The second set was a closely contested affair that went back and forth before SDSU scored a pair of late points to tie the contest at 23-23. From there both sides had a pair of set point opportunities before the set went to 27-all. The Aztecs then got a kill from Pearson and a Matador attack error to take win the set 2-0 lead in the match. Pearson's seven kills in the game led all players.
Set number three also went to extra points after San Diego came back from a five-point deficit at 21-16 to even the score at 23-23. From there, the visitors had three cracks at set point, but the Aztec were able to answer on each occasion with a kill from Nash and two by Andrea Hannasch. At 28-28, Hannasch recorded her fifth kill of the contest and SDSU got a hitting error from CSU to wrap up the set at 30-28 and take the match three-sets to none.
Action continues at the Aztec Invitational on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. when Cincinnati takes on CSU Northridge before SDSU faces Northern Colorado at noon. Cincinnati defeated UNC, 3-0, in the opening match of the tournament earlier Friday evening.