Nov. 7, 2010
PROVO, Utah - San Diego State came from two sets down and fought off three match points in the fifth set as it defeated Brigham Young, 3-2 (16-25, 20-25, 32-30, 25-21, 16-14), at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah, Saturday night. The win avenged a three-set loss at the hands of the Cougars in San Diego last month as the Aztecs evened their season record at 13-13 overall and 6-6 in the Mountain West Conference.
Sophomore middle blocker Andrea Hannasch turned in a career-high 18 kills along with eight blocks, two digs and a service ace while hitting .341 for the match. Freshman Raegan Shelton tied her Aztec best with a 20-kill effort while Jessica Peacock also hit the double figure mark in kills with 13.
Aztec libero Kristi Jackels established a career high with 32 digs over the five sets as she bested the 29 she had against UC Santa Barbara in last year's season finale.
In addition, setter Johnna Fouch turned in another solid performance with 54 assists, seven digs, three blocks and a pair of kills.
Brigham Young (9-15, 4-6 MWC) had three players finish the evening in double figures in kills led by Christian Measom with 16. Jennifer Hamson recorded 13 kills while teammate Stephanie Snow had 11. The Cougars hit .186 for the match compared to .164 for the Aztecs.
The opening set saw BYU take a 9-6 lead before scoring nine of the next 12 points to take command en route to a nine-point win. In the second contest, the Cougars again held a 9-6 lead and this time ran off nine straight points top go up 17-9. The Aztecs got back to within three at 17-14, but could come no closer as BYU won the set and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set number three saw the home side again enjoy a big lead at 19-10, but SDSU slowly worked its way back into the contest. BYU eventually held a slim 24-22 lead with two chances to win it, but a kill by Peacock and a Cougar hitting error knotted the score at 24-all. Both teams had chances to end the set, but were unable to take advantage. With BYU leading 30-29, San Diego State scored three consecutive points on kills by Fouch, Paije Pearson and Shelton to win the set and remain alive in the match.
The fourth set was a tight affair with neither team able to gain the upper hand as the score went to 19-19. A Cougar hitting error, a kill by Peacock and two from Shelton put SDSU in charge of the match and it went on to the four-point victory to even things at two sets apiece.
The fifth and deciding set went back and forth before the score moved to 10-10. Brigham Young then scored four of the next five points to take a 14-11 lead with three chances to end the proceedings. The Aztecs had other ideas, however and put together a run of five points to claim the set (16-14) and the match. That five-point streak included a Cougar attack error, two kills by Peacock and a pair of kills by Hannasch, who finished off the contest.
San Diego State will now take a break from league action with a pair of non-conference matches this coming week. On Tuesday, Nov. 9, the Aztecs will make the short trip north to take on Cal State Fullerton at 7:00 p.m. (PT) in Titan Gym. SDSU will then return home for a match against Cal State Bakersfield scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 13, at 5:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.