Oct. 28, 2010
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State avenged a three-set loss in Laramie earlier in the month as it defeated Wyoming in four sets (25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19) Thursday night in Peterson Gym. It was the fifth win in the last six outings for the Aztecs, who improved to 12-11 overall and 5-4 in the Mountain West Conference.
A trio of freshman paved the way for SDSU's victory over the Cowgirls. Outside hitter Summer Nash finished the evening with a career-high 15 kills while hitting .429. It marked the second consecutive match that the freshman from Seattle established a personal best as she had 13 kills in Tuesday's win over UC Riverside.
Fellow frosh Ragan Shelton, who had not played in SDSU's most recent three matches due to injury, came off the bench in the second set and finished the contest with14 kills, four blocks, two digs, two service aces and an assist.
First-year setter Johnna Fouch turned in her ninth double-double effort of the season as well with 43 assists and 10 digs. She also chipped in with three kills and a service ace.
Wyoming's Lauren Whitney led all players with 18 kills while Jodi Purdy had 10. Both players also contributed three service aces apiece. However, their efforts weren't enough as the Cowgirls saw their record fall to 19-6 (4-5 MWC).
San Diego State took the early lead in the opening set with its biggest margin coming at 7-4. Wyoming then came back to take a lead of its own as it moved out to a 16-11 advantage. It was then SDSU's turn to rally as it eventually knotted the score at 18-all. The score moved to 22-22 before the Aztecs scored twice on a Cowgirl service error and a kill by Kyley Sexton. The set ended two points later on a UW setting error. Nash led all players with seven kills while Whitney had five for Wyoming.
The second set saw SDSU with control over the first half of the contest as it built a 15-10 lead and held that advantage until 19-15. At that point, Wyoming went on a 7-0 run behind the serving of Purdy, who served up her three aces during UW's streak. Trailing 23-19, the Aztecs got back to within a point at 24-23, but a kill by Whitney finished off the set in the Cowgirls' favor.
Coming out of the intermission, San Diego State was looking to regain the momentum and it did so by scoring nine of the first 11 points in set number three to take a 9-2 lead. The Aztecs retained control of the contest the rest of the way as the Cowgirls could get no closer than six points at 16-10. Shelton led SDSU with four kills as eight attack miscues and five service errors by Wyoming played a part in the win.
In the fourth set, San Diego State held a slight lead for much of the contest, but Wyoming did not allow the Aztecs to build any momentum as they kept the score close. SDSU's breakthrough came with the scored tied at 18-18 when it scored three straight points on consecutive Cowgirl hitting errors. A point by the visitors made it a two-point game at 21-19, but the Aztecs then rattled off four in a row to close out the set and match. Shelton again led SDSU with four kills in the contest.
San Diego State will wrap up its current three-match home stand on Saturday, Oct. 30, when 14th-ranked Colorado State visits Peterson Gym for a match scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.