Sept. 7, 2012
HONOLULU - San Diego State began play at the 2012 Verizon Challenge in Honolulu with a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 19-25, 15-25) loss to the ninth-ranked Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The loss was SDSU's first of the season as its record fell to 5-1 while the host team improved to 6-1.
Sophomore outside hitter Summer Nash was the Aztecs' offensive leader on the night as she tallied a career-high 21 kills over the four sets along with a pair of blocks and a dig. Nash tied for match-high honors with Hawai'i's Jane Croson, who also finished with 21 kills on the night.
SDSU's Andrea Hannasch ended the evening with 10 kills plus five blocks six digs and three assists. She was the only other player on either side to reach double figures in kills in the match. Teammate Chaiymin Steel chipped in with seven kills and matched Hannasch's block total of five.
Other SDSU leaders included Kristi Jackels, who turned in a season-high 23 digs, and setter Johnna Fouch who contributed 24 assists.
The opening set saw San Diego State trailing over the first part of the contest as the Aztecs found themselves on the short end of a 17-13 score. SDSU then scored five of the next six points with the help of kills by Michelle Waber, Halle Aiken and Steel plus a pair of Hawaii hitting errors. After the teams traded two points apiece, SDSU was the beneficiary of three straight Rainbow Wahine hitting errors as it took a 23-20 lead. The Aztecs then got two of the next four points on kills by Nash and Steel to take the 25-22 win. Nash led all players with seven kills in the set.
In the second game, the Aztecs jumped out to a 6-1 lead only to see UH fight back to tie the score at 11-11. The teams swapped points until the scoreboard read 18-18 at which point Hawaii won four of the next five points on a pair of SDSU attack errors and kills by Kaela Goodman and Emily Hartong to take a 23-19 lead. After an Aztec kill by Emily Harris the home side got a kill from Hartong and the set winner from Croson.
Set number three began with the Aztecs jumping out to an 8-2 lead before the Rainbow Wahine scored the next nine points to go up 11-8. Hawaii built that lead to as many as nine points at 23-14. The Aztecs tried to put together a late run, but UH would go on the six-point win and go up 2-1 in the match. Nash had five kills in the contest to lead the Aztec effort.
In the fourth set it was the rainbow Wahine who took control early as they took a quick 5-0 lead. SDSU close the margin to 5-3, but would get no closer as Hawaii built that lead over the course of the set en route to the 10-point victory as it closed out the match. Nash again tallied five kills in the set, but the Aztecs only had a total of seven as a team while hitting .028.
Things don't get any easier for the Aztecs as they will next face defending national champion and third-ranked UCLA on Saturday (Sept. 8) at 5:00 p.m. (HT) in Honolulu.