Nov. 8, 2012
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The San Diego State volleyball team chalked up its eighth consecutive victory as it defeated Air Force in three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) Thursday evening on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. The eight-game win streak is the longest for SDSU since the 1995 season as it improved to 19-7 overall and 10-3 in the Mountain West.
Michelle Waber and Raegan Shelton shared match-high honors with 11 kills apiece for the Aztecs, who finished the night with a .396 hitting percentage, the team's second-highest mark of the 2012 campaign. Senior Andrea Hannasch added eight kills and also chipped in with three blocks and four digs while teammate Emily Harris led all players with four blocks and also notched a half dozen kills.
Aztec junior setter Johnna Fouch made her presence felt as she contributed 40 assists, four digs, two blocks and a service ace in another solid all-around performance.
For Air Force (8-17, 2-9 MW), Felicia Clemet led the way with 10 kills and a pair of solo blocks. The Falcons hit just .160 for the match and ended the evening with a total of 27 kills compared to 47 for the Aztecs.
In the opening set San Diego State found itself down early as Air Force jumped out to a 10-6 lead. The Aztecs, however, caught up at 11-11 and the teams stayed within a point of each other until, at 18-18, SDSU scored three in a row to go up 21-18. The Falcons clawed their back to within a point at 21-20, but the Aztecs ran off the next four points on an Air Force hitting error and kills by Hannasch, Shelton and Harris to secure the win. Waber led all players with five kills in the set as SDSU doubled the visitors' team kill total (14-7).
The second set saw SDSU take a 2-1 lead and hold the advantage the rest of the way as it built its lead to as many as eight points at 16-8 en route to the seven-point victory. Hannasch and Shelton tallied six kills apiece for the Aztecs in the contest as the home side hit .667 in the set.
Set number three was close in the early stages as the teams stayed within three points of each other up until the contest was deadlocked at 15-15. From there San Diego State scored six straight points behind three kills by Waber and a trio Falcon miscues. With the score 21-15, the teams traded two points apiece before back-to-back kills by Halle Aiken and Nash ended the set and match in the Aztecs' favor. Nash finished with five kills in the contest while Waber added four.
San Diego State continues its three-match home stand on Saturday, Nov. 10, when it hosts Boise State at 7:00 p.m. on Aztec Court.