Nov. 24, 2010
FORT WORTH, Texas - The San Diego State volleyball team settled for a split of its season series with TCU as it dropped a 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 18-25, 25-17) decision to the Horned Frogs Wednesday evening at the University Recreation Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The loss ended a three-match winning steak for the Aztecs, who saw their record fall to 16-15 overall and 8-7 in the Mountain West Conference.
Middle blocker Andrea Hannasch led SDSU with 13 kills and added 12 digs to record her fifth double-double of the season. Kyley Sexton and Lauren Salisbury also ended the night in double figures in kills with 12 and 10 respectively. Salisbury, a senior middle blocker from Southlake, Texas, now needs just six kills to reach the 1,000 plateau for her collegiate career.
Setter Johnna Fouch notched her 11th double-double of the season with 50 assists and 10 digs. It marked the seventh time this season that the freshman had finished with 50 or more assists in a match.
Aztec libero Kristi Jackels tied for match-high honors with 21 digs and also added a pair of assists and two service aces while teammate Jessica Peacock chipped in with eight kills and a .429 hitting percentage.
TCU's Irene Hester led all players with 18 kills and completed a double-double effort with 15 digs. Her sister Kristen finished with 11 kills while Jordan Raines added 10 for the Frogs.
The opening set was tied as late as 10-10 before TCU (14-16, 5-11 MWC) scored three consecutive points on a kill by Irene Hester and a pair of SDSU attack errors to take the lead for good. The Horned Frogs extended their advantage to as many as six points at 18-12, but SDSU crawled back to within two at 22-20. The teams traded points until a kill by Raines gave the home side the two-point win.
The second set was similar to the first as the teams worked their way to a 9-9 tie. From there the Frogs rallied to score five of the next six points to take control of the contest. The Aztecs closed the gap late to 20-18, but TCU's offense took over, again claiming five of the ensuing six points for the 25-19 win.
After the break San Diego State looked to grab the early momentum in set three and did so by running out to a 13-5 lead aided by three kills from Hannasch and two apiece from Sexton and Salisbury. SDSU maintained its advantage the rest of the way as it claimed the set victory and narrowed the Frogs' lead in the match to 2-1.
In the fourth set the Aztecs kept the early momentum, taking a 6-3 lead behind kills by Hannasch and Raegan Shelton plus the serving of Paije Pearson. TCU, however, staged a turnaround as they trailed 8-7 before running off six straight points. SDSU could get no closer than four the rest of the contest as the Horned Frogs went on to win the set by eight points and the match 3-1.
San Diego State will bring the curtain down on its 2010 volleyball season with a visit to Albuquerque for a contest against MWC foe New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 26, at 7:00 p.m. (MT).