Nov. 3, 2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State got a balanced offensive attack with four players finishing in double figures in kills as it defeated New Mexico, 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20), Thursday night on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. SDSU also got a couple of individual career performances as it completed a season sweep of the Lobos, whom they defeated in five sets in Albuquerque in early October. The win moved the Aztecs' record to 14-8 overall and 7-4 in the Mountain West as they moved into a tie for third place in the conference standings.
Senior outside hitter Paije Pearson led San Diego State with 13 kills and also contributed five blocks, seven digs and four assists. Other Aztecs in double figures in kills included Summer Nash (13) along with Andrea Hannasch and Raegan Shelton with 10 apiece. Nash also had five blocks while Hannasch recorded four.
First-year Aztec Emily Harris, a transfer from Western Michigan, set a career best with 10 blocks while also finishing with eight kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Her previous personal record of eight blocks in a match came against the Lobos in the five-set match in Albuquerque earlier this season.
In addition, junior libero Kristi Jackels tied her career best with 32 digs, almost a year to the day after she recorded the same total at Brigham Young on Nov. 6 of last season. That mark came in a five-set Aztec win as well.
New Mexico's Ashley Rhoades led all players with 19 kills while teammate Kelly Williamson had 15.
As a team, San Diego State hit .233 over the four sets compared to .169 for the Lobos. The Aztecs' main area of strength in the match came in the area of blocking where it finished with 15.5 team blocks to five for UNM (13-11, 5-6 MW).
The opening set saw the teams evenly matched over the first half of the contest with the score tied at 13-13. SDSU then got kills by Pearson and Hannasch plus a Lobo attack error to open up a three-point lead. The Aztec led the rest of the way although the visitors climbed back to within a point late at 20-19. But SDSU went on to score five of the next six points to claim the win. Pearson and Harris led the Aztecs with four kills apiece while Rhoades and Ashley Newman finished the same total for UNM. Jackels led San Diego State's defensive effort with 14 digs.
Set number two saw New Mexico take the lead at 8-7 and maintain its advantage until the Aztecs were finally able to knot the score at 20-20. The teams then scored two points each before the Lobos used a kills by Rhoades and a pair of SDSU attack errors to secure the three-point victory. Pearson led all players with five kills in the contest with Nash and Shelton contributing four apiece.
The third set bore a resemblance to the opener as the teams were tied at 13-13 at the mid-point of the contest. This time San Diego State put together a four-point run, again getting kills from Hannasch and Pearson to take a lead it would not relinquish. The teams alternated points until 20-17 at which point SDSU scored five of the next six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Those final five points came courtesy of a pair of kills by Harris, one by Pearson, a service ace by Shelton and a Lobo miscue.
In the fourth set neither team could gain the upper hand in the early going and the game settled in with an 11-11 score line. SDSU then took a two-point lead on a kill by Hannasch and a Lobo hitting error and led the rest of the way although they were unable to pull away from a determined UNM side. Only a point separated the teams late with the Aztecs holding an 18-17 lead before the home team got a kill from Nash and a UNM ball handling miscue to go up by three. Further kills by Nash and setter Johnna Fouch opened up a 22-18 advantage for San Diego State and it went on to secure the five-point set victory on a kill by Hannasch to close out the match.
Up next for the Aztecs is their final conference home match of the year as they get set to host TCU on Saturday, Nov. 5, at noon on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym.