Sept. 23, 2010
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State volleyball team got its 2010 Mountain West Conference season off to a perfect start with a three-set (26-24, 25-22, 25-12) victory over New Mexico Thursday evening in Peterson Gym. The Aztecs ended a six-match skid and improved to 6-7 (1-0 MWC) while the Lobos fell to 8-6 (0-1 MWC).
SDSU junior middle blocker Andrea Hannasch was the dominant force in the contest as she led all players with 12 kills and 10 blocks to account for 18.5 points. Her block and point totals represented season highs while she set her Aztec career best with a .688 hitting percentage over the three sets.
Supporting Hannasch's effort was a nine-kill, 5-dig performance from Paije Pearson along with eight kills and four blocks by Kyley Sexton. Setter Johnna Fouch finished the night with 35 assists while libero Kristi Jackels had a match-high 14 digs.
UNM was led by senior Lisa Meeter, who had 10 kills but hit just .172 for the match. As a team, the Lobos were held to a .069 attack percentage while San Diego State compiled a .322 mark, its best in its past seven outings. At the net, the Aztecs turned in 22 block assists for the second consecutive match and tied the team's season high with a total of 12.0 team blocking points.
In the opening set, San Diego State trailed early but came back to take the lead at 12-11. After building that advantage to three points at 17-14, the Aztecs saw UNM tie the game and take a 24-22 lead with two chances to win the set. But SDSU was not to be denied as it got a pair of kills from Hannasch and two Lobo hitting errors to emerge with the victory.
The second set was just as close as the first with the teams separated by no more than three points throughout the contest. The Aztecs found themselves with a 22-21 lead late in the game and from there won three of the final four points on a kill by Hannasch and a pair of Lobo attack errors. SDSU held the visitors to just a .083 hitting percentage in the contest while hitting .222.
Set number three was all San Diego State as it jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. New Mexico was able to get no closer than six points the rest of the way as the Aztecs were able to gradually pull away. Hannasch's six kills and two blocks led the way as SDSU hit .625 with only one hitting error in the set.
The Aztecs will be back in Peterson Gym on Saturday, Sept. 25, as they continue conference play with a match against TCU at noon.