Nov. 25, 2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State got a career-high 18 kills from Summer Nash, but it wasn't enough to overcome UC Santa Barbara as the Aztecs fell to the Gauchos in four sets Friday night on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. UCSB (19-11) captured the match with set scores of 25-23, 22-25, 26-24 and 25-19 in a contest that was part of the Aztec Turkey Time tournament being hosted by SDSU (17-10).
Nash's 18 kills led all players in the match as she was one of four Aztecs to finish in double figures in that category. Emily Harris and Raegan Shelton ended the night with 11 kills apiece while Andrea Hannasch, who also contributed nine total blocks, finished with 10.
All-conference setter Johnna Fouch recorded her 10th double-double of the season with a performance that included 48 assists and 16 digs. She also added three blocks and three kills to her stat line while Aztec libero Kristi Jackels took match-high honors with 28 digs.
Kara Sherrard led the visitors with 14 kills with teammates Leah Sully (13) and Stacey Schmidt (11) joining her in double figures.
The opening set featured six lead changes and 13 tied scores with UC Santa Barbara taking the largest lead by either side at 24-21. SDSU fought back with a pair of points on a kill by Harris and a Gaucho hitting miscue, but an Aztec service error gave the visitors the point they needed to take the set, 25-23. UCSB's Sherrard led all players with six kills while SDSU was paced by four by Summer Nash.
Set number two was another close affair with neither team able to establish control of the contest. With the score knotted at 16-all, San Diego State took the lead for good with three straight points on kills by Hannasch and Nash plus a UCSB hitting error to go up 19-16. The visitors got back to within one on four occasions, the last being at 23-22. But a kill by Harris and another Gaucho miscue gave the Aztecs the three-point win and tied the match at one set apiece.
The third set saw SDSU trailing 7-4 before it ran off nine straight and 12 of the next 13 points to take a 16-8 lead. The Gauchos, however were able to come back to tie the contest at 20-20 by scoring five points on kills and seven on Aztec attack errors. The teams traded four points apiece to go to 24-all before an SDSU service error and hitting miscue gave the visitor the set win.
In the fourth set it, with the scored tied at 12-12, it was UCSB that took the lead for good with three points in a row on kills by Sully and Lily Lopez plus a service ace by Chelsey Lowe. The Aztecs were able to get to within one at 16-15, but could not come back all the way as the Gauchos slowly pulled away. Sully, who recorded seven kills in the set, got the final one to seal the set and match victory for Santa Barbara.
San Diego State will wrap up its 2011 season on Saturday (Nov. 26) as it takes on Pitt in the finale of the Aztec Turkey Time at 7:00 p.m. on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. UC Santa Barbara and TCU will play the day's first match at 4:30 p.m. The Horned Frogs defeated Pitt, 3-1, in the tourney's opening match earlier on Friday.