Nov. 23, 2013
SAN DIEGO - On Senior Day in Peterson Gym, it was only fitting that all eight fourth-year Aztecs played a part in leading San Diego State to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-18) victory over Utah State Saturday afternoon on Aztec Court. With the win in their final home match of the 2013 season, the Aztecs improved to 15-13 overall and 10-8 in the Mountain West.
Senior outside hitters Raegan Shelton and Summer Nash topped all players with 17 and 14 kills respectively. Shelton hit .438 over the three sets and added a pair of blocks and three digs while Nash finished with a block, two digs and a .324 hitting percentage.
Senior middle blocker Emily Harris had five kills with a .445 attack mark along with four blocks while sophomore Kaja Sandberg added 10 kills to the SDSU total and also registered a match-high five total blocks.
Libero Christie Ring was stellar on defense as she contributed 18 digs and also had four assists while fellow fourth-year player Courtney Vaccarello had 13 digs. Senior defensive specialists Justine Ricigliano (7 digs, 2 service aces) and Kyla Oropeza (two digs, two assists) also contributed to the Aztec victory.
Setter Johnna Fouch, also playing her final game after a stellar four-year career, ended the day with 44 assists and also notched two blocks, five digs, three kills and a service ace.
After winning four of the first five points in the opening set, San Diego State quickly found itself behind 10-8 after a Utah State rally. From there, however, the Aztecs scored the next five points to take a 13-10 lead. SDSU built that lead to six points at 18-12 and cruised to the six-point set win. Shelton had seven kills in the contest while Nash and Sandberg recorded four apiece. Both teams were efficient on offense as the Aztecs finished with a .400 hitting percentage to .364 for the visitors.
Set number two saw San Diego State take the lead at 2-1 and build its advantage to as many as six points at 12-6. Utah State was able to get within three late in the contest at 23-20, but a pair of kills by Shelton sealed the set for the Aztecs. Shelton had six kills in the contest with Nash adding five.
In the third set Utah State came out determined to get back into the match and jumped out to a 4-0 lead. But the Aztecs slowly climbed their way back into the contest eventually tying the game at 9-9. Three successive points then gave the home side a 12-9 advantage and it maintained the lead the remainder of the set, going up by as many as eight (20-12) before the seven-point set win secured the match victory.
San Diego State will conclude its 2013 season next week with a pair of road matches beginning with a trip to Fort Collins, Colo., to take on ninth-ranked Colorado State on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m. (MT).