Oct. 9, 2010
SAN DIEGO - Staring defeat in the face in the final contest of a five-set match, San Diego State staged a huge comeback effort as it defeated Utah, 3-2 (25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 15-13), Saturday night in Peterson Gym. The Aztecs trailed by six points (13-7) late in the fifth game before rallying for the victory with eight straight points.
With the win, SDSU improved to 8-10 overall and evened its Mountain West Conference record at 3-3. Utah, meanwhile, fell to 7-10 on the season and 2-2 in league play.
For the Aztecs, junior Jessica Peacock turned in career highs with 17 kills and a .517 hitting percentage. She was one of three SDSU players to finish the evening in double figures in kills as she was joined by Andrea Hannasch and Raegan Shelton who had 16 apiece. In addition, Hannasch led all players with seven blocks while teammate Paije Pearson had a season-high six.
Libero Kristi Jackels contributed 17 digs while freshman setter Johnna Fouch chipped in with 51 assists, six digs, three kills and three blocks. Defensive specialist Kyla Oropeza had nine digs and a pair of assists, and she was the server during the Aztecs' eight-point rally in the final set.
Four Utes ended the night in double figures in kills led by Morgan Odale with 17. Utah hit .244 for the match compared to .261 for SDSU as the teams finished nearly even in every statistical category.
San Diego State got off to a quick start in the opening set, jumping out to a 10-5 with Shelton recording half of SDSU's points in that span. The Aztecs increased their advantage to 10 points at 18-8 and did not allow the Utes to get closer than five the rest of the way. Shelton totaled eight kills in the contest while Paije Pearson had three blocks.
The second set was a close contest as the teams were even at 10-10. From there the Aztecs scored five straight points on kills by Kyley Sexton and Peacock, a Shelton service ace and a pair of Utah hitting errors. After that, the Utes got no closer than four at 16-12 as SDSU was paced by four kills apiece from Hannasch and Peacock.
Set number three saw the teams separated by no more than three points and the contest dead even at 18-18. The teams then traded five points to 23-all before the visitors got kills from Erin Redd and Brooke McAlister to capture the set. Karolina Bartkowiak led all players with seven kills for the Utes while Hannasch had half a dozen for the Aztecs.
In the fourth set the score was close in the early going with Utah holding a slim edge at 10-9. The Utes then went on an 8-3 run with those points coming from kills by four different players along with four Aztec hitting errors.
With the momentum clearly on its side, Utah came out of the gate quickly in the fifth and deciding set, taking a 10-4 lead. The Utes got kills from five different players, a service ace from another plus four SDSU hitting errors en route to that six-point advantage. They maintained that pace, eventually taking the 13-7 lead before San Diego State began its grand comeback.
The Aztec rally began with a kill from Peacock and another by Kyley Sexton. A Utah attack error followed by a kill from Sexton drew the Aztecs to within two at 13-11. Three consecutive Ute hitting errors gave SDSU its first lead of the set at 14-13, and an emphatic kill by Hannasch finished off the set and the match for San Diego State.
The Aztecs will now take a short break from Mountain West Conference play as they host Seattle next Friday, Oct. 15, at 7:00 p.m. (PT) in Peterson Gym.