Sept. 14, 2012
FULLERTON, Calif. - San Diego State split a pair of matches on the opening day of the Fullerton Classic, dropping a five-set match to Santa Clara Friday afternoon before defeating host Cal State Fullerton, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-17, 25-15), in the evening nightcap. With the win and loss, San Diego State's record now stands at 7-3.
Summer Nash led the Aztecs in the victory over the Titans (6-5) with 15 kills, a block and six digs with teammate Raegan Shelton also finishing in double figures in kills with 11. Emily Harris, Michelle Waber and Andrea Hannasch had eight kills apiece and also contributed eight, seven and four blocks respectively.
Aztec setters Chloe Mathis and Tanna Aljoe chipped in with 22 assists each. Defensively, libero Kristi Jackels had 13 digs and defensive specialist Kyla Oropeza had 11.
After the teams split the first two sets of the match, San Diego State controlled both the third and fourth contests. In the third set, the Aztecs trailed 5-4 early before scoring eight of the next nine points to take a commanding 13-6 lead. That's sequence included three kills by Nash and one each from Shelton, Waber and Harris as the Titans would not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
In sent number four, the score was tied at 4-4 when San Diego State went on an 11-0 run to go up 15-4. That run was served by Oropeza, who had an ace, and was fueled by two kills apiece from Shelton and Harris. CSU Fullerton could only get within nine points on two occasions as the Aztecs finished out the contest by winning four of the final five points with Shelton knocking down the match-winning kill.
Earlier in the day, the Aztecs dropped a 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 12-15) decision to Santa Clara (8-4) in their opening match of the tourney.
Chaiymin Steel led SDSU with 12 kills while three of the teammates finished in double figures as well including Nash (11), Hannasch (10) and Waber (10). Hannasch also recorded four blocks as did Harris while Nash added three.
Junior setter Johnna Fouch notched her first double-double of the season with 26 assists and 14 digs whiles Waber's kill total (10) and 10 digs established her first double-double as an Aztec. In addition, libero Kristi Jackels led all players with 18 digs.
The Aztecs opened the match with a six-point victory in set one only to drop the ensuing two contests by three and two points respectively. They fought back to even the match at two sets apiece, but came up short in the fifth and deciding contest. In that fifth set, SDSU had an 11-9 lead late only to see the Broncos win six of the final seven points to close out the match.
San Diego State will continue play at the Fullerton Classic with a pair of matches on Saturday (Sept. 15). The Aztecs will face Oregon State at noon and wrap up the weekend with a match against Brown at 5:30 p.m.