Nov. 14, 2013
RENO, Nev. - San Diego State fought back from a 2-1 set deficit, but was overrun in the final game as it fell to Nevada by set scores of 25-22, 24-26, 23-25, 25-20, 6-15 Thursday night at the Virginia Street Gym in Reno. It was seventh five-set match of the season for the Aztecs and the sixth time they came up on the short end in those contests.
The win ended a 17-match losing streak for the Wolf Pack who recorded only their second Mountain West victory in their two seasons as conference members. Nevada (3-24, 1-14 MW) won for just the third time in 2013 while the Aztecs saw their record fall to 13-13 overall and 8-8 in league play.
Senior Summer Nash led the way for SDSU with 18 kills and was joined in double figures in that category by Raegan Shelton. The latter added a pair of blocks and two digs to her stat line with Nash posting one block and one dig as well.
Setter Johnna Fouch finished the evening with 49 assists along with five kills, four blocks, seven digs and three service aces. She hit .714 on the night with no errors on seven attempts. Emily Harris had six blocks to lead all players in that category while libero Christie Ring registered a match-high 13 digs.
Nevada's Tessa Lea'ea had 19 kills for the home side and was one of four players in double figures for the Wolf Pack. The others included Grace Anxo with 14 and Madison Morrell and Sam Willoughby with 10 apiece.
Both teams ended the contest with 60 kills and turned in similar hitting percentages over the five sets. SDSU ended with a .228 attack percentage while Nevada posted a .236.
In the opening set, the teams were even over the first half of the contest before San Diego state ran off four straight points to go up 19-15. Nevada came right back to tie the game at 19-all, but SDSU scored the next three points to take the lead for good at 22-19. The Wolf Pack fought back to within a point at 23-22, but a kill by Nash and a service ace by Fouch sealed the win for the visitors.
The second set saw a stirring comeback by the Aztecs, who at one point trailed 19-11 before mounting a rally. Trailing 24-18 and facing six match points for Nevada, SDSU rattled off six straight points to tie the contest at 24-24. Included in that run were kills by Harris and Chaiymin Steel plus four Wolf Pack attack errors. But just as the Wolf Pack's miscues helped the SDSU comeback, it was a pair of Aztec hitting errors on the next two points that gave Nevada the set and tied the match at 1-1.
Set number three went back and forth with four lead changes and the score tied on eight occasions. The teams went to 23-23 when back-to-back kills by Kinsey Minter and Willoughby secured the set and put the Wolf Pack up 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set was similar to the third with five lead changes that eventually saw the score knotted at 16-16. At that point SDSU tallied four straight points on a Nash kill and three Wolf Pack attack errors to take command at 20-16. Nevada closed the gap to two points at 22-20, but a pair of Wolf Pack hitting miscues and a service ace by Kaja Sandberg enabled the Aztecs to win set and even the match at two games apiece.
The deciding fifth game was all Nevada as it built a quick 5-1 advantage. The teams traded points up to an 8-4 Wolf Pack lead before six straight points put Nevada squarely in command of the contest at 14-4. That six-point run came courtesy of three kills by Lea'ea, a Willoughby service ace and a pair of Aztec hitting errors. SDSU put off the inevitable on kills by Nash and Shelton before a kill by Anxo ended the set and match in Nevada's favor.
The Aztecs now return home for their final two contests of the season on Aztec Court. The home stand begins with a match against Boise State on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7:00 p.m.