Oct. 24, 2013
LOGAN, Utah - San Diego State saw offensive errors lead to its demise as it dropped a three-set match to Utah State at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah, Thursday evening. The Aggies claimed the victory by set scores of 25-16, 25-21, 25-23 as they improved to 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the Mountain West. SDSU, which lost for the third time in as many matches, saw its record drop to 9-10 (4-5 MW).
Senior middle blocker Emily Harris finished with 11 kills and two blocks along with a .611 hitting percentage for the Aztecs as she was one of only two players in the contest to end the night in double figures in kills.
Summer Nash, who was limited by injury, played only the final two sets and recorded nine kills with five digs and a service ace. Defensively Justine Ricigliano had 14 digs while Courtney Vaccarello chipped in with 12.
Tumua Etimani led Utah State with 10 kills as the Aggies ended the night with a .269 hitting percentage compared to a .138 mark for the Aztecs. SDSU actually finished with more kills (43-37) over the three sets, but it also committed 26 errors to just nine by the home side.
In the opening set Utah State jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held the advantage over the course of the entire set. The closest the Aztecs could get was two points at 6-4 as the Aggies held them at bay en route to the nine-point win.
The second set saw an even contest early as the teams traded points up to 9-9. Utah State then rattled off five in a row to take a 14-9 lead. San Diego state, however, fought back to knot the score at 16-16 and after the teams alternated scoring the next four points, the Aggies tallied twice go up for good at 20-18. Utah State then went on to capture five of the next six points to win the set and go up 2-0 in the match.
In set three, SDSU trailed from the outset before finally catching up late to tie the game at 19-19. Six points later, at 22-all, an Aggie kill and service ace put USU up 24-22. And after an attack error got the Aztecs to within one, a kill by Rachel Orr put away the set and match in favor of Utah State.
San Diego State will now make its way to Idaho where it will face Boise State on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 7:00 p.m. (MT) in Bronco Gym in a contest that will be televised on the Mountain Digital Network.