Sept. 3, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. - The San Diego State volleyball team concluded opening day action at the ASU Sheraton Classic with a four-set win over host Arizona State at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe Friday evening. With the win in the nightcap, SDSU improved to 4-1 on the season after having suffered it first loss of the year to Utah State in the tourney opener Friday morning.
Freshman Raegan Shelton led the Aztecs against the Sun Devils (2-3), finishing with a season-high 20 kills along a .500 hitting percentage over the four-set match. Soph Andrea Hannasch also recorded double figures in kills with 11 while adding four blocks, four digs and a .409 attack percentage.
First-year Aztec Johnna Fouch finished with 52 assists in the contest and added a dozen digs for her second double-double of the year. She also contributed two blocks and a service ace. Lauren Salisbury led all players with personal season-high five blocks while Kristi Jackels had 18 digs from the libero position.
In the opening set, the Aztecs led from start to finish behind five kills by Hannasch and four by Shelton. Leading 13-10, SDSU scored seven of the next 10 points to establish firm control of the game.
Set two was a closer contest that saw the score tied at 19-19 before San Diego State scored three straight points on kills by Paije Pearson and Summer Nash plus a Sun Devil service error. Kills by Hannasch accounted for two of the Aztecs' final three points in the set.
After the break, Arizona State came out strong as it jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead and never looked back. SDSU's offense struggled in the set as it had as many kills as errors (nine) as the visitors dropped the contest by 10 points.
In set number four, the Aztecs were able to build a five-point advantage at 11-6 and maintain that margin over the remainder of the game as ASU was only able to close the gap to as few as three points on two occasions. Fittingly it was Shelton who provided SDSU's match-winning point with her 20th kill of the night.
Earlier in the day, undefeated Utah State (5-0) handed the Aztecs their first loss of the young season in a four-set contest (25-23, 25-14, 26-28, 28-26).
Kyley Sexton led San Diego State with 16 kills and 10 digs to record her second double-double of the year while Paije Pearson duplicated that feat with an 11-kill, 15-dig effort.
Freshman Summer Nash also finished in double figures in kills with 10 along with four digs and a block over the three sets in which she appeared. Kristi Jackels chipped in with 18 digs while Andrea Hannasch led the team in blocks with four.
Utah State's Liz McArthur, who came into the match averaging well over five kills per set, led all players with 20 kills and also had 10 digs. For the match, the Aggies hit .241 as a team compared to .184 for SDSU.
The opening set saw Utah State lading through the middle of the contest before the Aztecs fought back to take a 23-22 lead, However, a, SDSU service error, a kill by USU's Kim Astle and an Aztec attack error gave the Aggies the two-point win.
Set two was the only one of the four decided by more than two points as Utah State took control early and put together several four and five-point runs that SDSU could not match. The Aztec were held to a .059 hitting percentage while the Aggies committed just one error en route to a .360 mark in the set.
Both the third and the fourth sets went to extra points and finished with the same 28-26 score. Set three went to San Diego State when a kill by Salisbury and a USU error provided the final margin. The fourth game was reversal of fortune as a kill by Josselyn White and an Aztec attack error accounted for the final two points to give Utah State the set and match victory.
San Diego State will conclude play in the ASU Sheraton Classic Saturday morning (Sept. 4) with a match against Seattle set for a 10:00 a.m. (PT) start in Tempe.