Nov. 10, 2011
BOISE, Idaho - San Diego State completed a season sweep of conference newcomer Boise State as it defeated the Broncos in three sets (25-15, 25-10, 25-23) Thursday night in Boise. With the win SDSU improved to 16-8 over and 9-3 in the Mountain West as it remained tied for second in the league standings.
Outside hitter Summer Nash led the San Diego State attack with 12 kills as she was the lone player on either side to reach double figures in that category. The sophomore from Seattle, Wash. (Bishop Blanchet HS) hit .478 for the match and also contributed four blocks and five digs.
Emily Harris and Andrea Hannasch finished with nine kills apiece as the Aztecs totaled 43 as a team compared to 28 for the Broncos. Harris turned in a .471 attack percentage and also had four blocks while Hannasch added three blocks and three digs. Libero Kristi Jackels led all players with 12 digs and also had three service aces.
SDSU took charge in the opening set as it sprinted out to a 4-1 lead and held the advantage the rest of the way. After building their lead to seven points at 13-6, the Aztecs saw Boise get back to within three at 15-12, but from their the visitors pulled away with eight of their final 10 points coming on kills including four by Hannasch, two by Nash and one each from Paije Pearson and Raegan Shelton.
The second set saw the contest tied at 2-2 before the Aztec ran off eight straight points to open up a 10-2 lead. Eight Bronco hitting errors in the contest helped the Aztecs en route to the lopsided victory as they hit .320 for the set compared to a -.100 attack percentage for Boise State.
Set number three was the most competitive of the evening as it saw the score tied on six occasions and the lead change hands three times. The Broncos had the upper hand in the early going as they jumped out to a 12-6 lead only to have SDSU score seven straight points to go ahead 13-12. The Aztecs built their lead to as many as three points, but Boise was able to recover to go ahead 22-20. After a pair of Bronco errors tied the match, the home side took the lead at 23-22, but were unable to close it out as a Boise State attack miscue and back-to-back kills by Harris sealed the set and match victory for the Aztecs.
San Diego State now moves on to Colorado Springs where it will close out its 2011 Mountain West regular season with a match at Air Force on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 5:00 p.m. (MT).
A win over the Falcons would give the Aztecs at least a tie for second place in the final MW standings along with the No. 2 seed at next week's conference tournament in Albuquerque.