Oct. 19, 2013
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State dropped a hard-fought four-set match to 12th-ranked Colorado State by scores of 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 Saturday evening on Aztec Court. The win was the 16 straight for the Rams as they remain undefeated on the season and also improve to 8-0 in the Mountain West.
Senior Raegan Shelton, back for her first full match for the Aztecs since breaking a finger in early September, led SDSU with 11 kills while teammate Michelle Waber chipped in with 10. Kaja Sandberg had nine kills and equaled her career high with eight blocks.
Elsewhere setter Chloe Mathis recorded her first double-double of the season with 22 assists and 10 digs. Libero Courtney Vaccarello led SDSU with 16 digs while defensive specialist Justin Ricigliano had three service aces.
In the opening set the lead changed hands three times early before SDSU (9-9, 4-4 MW) scored three straight points to go up 10-7. The Aztecs held the lead the rest of the way with Colorado State getting within one point on only two occasions after that. Sandberg led the Aztecs with three kills and four blocks while Chaiymin Steel also had three kills.
Set number two was similar to the first in that SDSU took an early lead and held it through much of the set before the Rams, caught up at 21-21. After the teams traded points, CSU ran off three straight on a pair of kills by Marlee Reynolds and a combination block by Reynolds and Kelsey Snider.
The third set was the opposite of the first two as Colorado State tallied four straight points to go up 12-8 and lead the remainder of the contest. SDSU got back to within two twice, but that was as close as it would come as the Rams grabbed the four-point win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The fourth set saw Colorado State lead in the early going before SDSU knotted the score at 11-11. From there the teams traded points up to 14-all when the Rams scored two in a row to take the lead for good. From there CSU slowly pulled away for the eight point win in a contest that was closer that the final score indicated.
Up next for the Aztecs is a pair of road matches next week beginning with a trip to Logan Utah, on Thursday, Oct. 24, to face Utah State at 7:00 p.m. (MT).