Nov. 18, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - San Diego State's stay at the 2011 Mountain West Volleyball Championships was a short-lived one as it was upset by UNLV Friday afternoon at the Johnson Center in Albuquerque, N.M. The Rebels, who were the tourney's seventh seed, needed just three sets to dispose of the second-seeded Aztecs by scores of 25-20, 29-27, 25-23.
SDSU junior middle blocker Andrea Hannasch led all players with 15 kills in the contest and added a pair of blocks while hitting at a .414 clip. Teammate Paije Pearson added 10 kills, six digs and a pair of blocks while libero Kristi Jackels had a match-high 15 digs. In addition, setter Johnna Fouch had 41 assists along with nine digs and three solo blocks.
Makenzie Moea'i was UNLV's top offensive contributor with 12 kills. Fellow Rebels Candice Thomas and Madeline Westman added nine each to a balanced Rebel attack.
The Aztecs finished with more kills (49-43) and digs (45-37) than their opponent, but finished with a hitting percentage of just .164 for the match compared to a .245 for UNLV. They finished with a dozen more attack errors that the Rebels, who also had the advantage in blocks.
Despite coming in as the underdogs, the Rebels took the early lead in the opening set and stretch it to six points at 13-7. The Aztecs were able to get back to within three at 18-15, and after falling behind by six again at 22-16 found themselves trailing by three at 23-20. But back-to-back kills by Moea'i and Thomas ended the set in UNLV's favor.
The second set was a tight one from start to finish as the contest was tied on 21 occasions and featured nine lead changes. SDSU's biggest lead of three points came at 18-15, but the Rebels were able to come back and knot the contest at 19-19. From there the teams traded points leading up to a 27-27 score line before a pair of Aztec hitting errors allowed UNLV to claim the win and go up 2-0 in the match.
Set number three saw the Rebels run out to a 7-2 lead only to have SDSU recover and tie the contest at 9-9. The set went back and forth over the next several points until UNLV scored four straight points to take the lead at 18-14. The Aztecs fought their way back to tie the game at 22-all before UNLV won three of the sets final four points on a pair of SDSU errors and a kill by Allison Davies to secure the set and match victory.
San Diego State will now return home to prepare for its final action of the 2011 campaign as it hosts the four-team Aztec Turkey Time Tournament next weekend. SDSU will face UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Nov. 25, at 7:00 p.m. on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. The Aztecs' other contest in the tourney will be against Pittsburgh the following night at 7:00 p.m.