Nov. 7, 2013
SAN JOSE, Calif. - San Diego State let a two-set lead slip away as it dropped a five-set match with San Jose State rallying to defeat the Aztecs by scores of 23-25, 26-28, 25-16, 23-25, 15-7 Thursday night at Spartan Gym. The loss put an end to SDSU's three-match win streak as it saw its record drop to 12-11 overall and 7-6 in the Mountain West.
Senior outside hitter Summer Nash led San Diego State as she matched her career high with 21 kills while also contributing six digs and a service ace. Fellow senior Ragan Shelton finished with 14 kills, three digs, a block and an assist.
Their efforts led to the Aztecs finishing with more kills on the night (69-63), but attack errors proved to be the team's downfall as it committed 38 to only 18 by the Spartans. As a result, the Aztecs finished with a .177 hitting percentage compared to a .270 mark for the home side. In addition, San Jose registered 17 team blocks while SDSU had five on the night.
Libero Christie Ring, making just her second start at the position, had a career-high 21 digs over the five sets. Setters Johnna Fouch and Chloe Mathis had 38 and 20 assists respectively while senior Emily Harris led the Aztecs with four blocks.
The Spartans (7-17, 4-9 MW) had three players finish the evening in double figures in kills led by Mary Alice O'Reilly with 19. Sarah Griest and Lauren Jacobsen tallied 14 and 13 respectively.
San Diego State won the first two sets, but both were tight affairs ending with SDSU winning by only two points. In the opener, the Spartans led most of the way only to have the Aztec tie the contest at 23-23. A kill by Mathis and an ensuing service ace by Kaja Sandberg gave SDSU the 25-23 victory.
The second set was more of the same with the teams separated by two points or less over the second half of the contest. SDSU led 24-23 and had three chances to win it only to have San Jose State re-tie the score each time on kills by Griest. With the set tied at 26-26, a Spartan service error was followed by a kill from Shelton and the Aztecs went into the intermission with a 2-0 lead.
After the break, San Jose State came out and took control of the third set, building a quick 10-5 lead and increasing its advantage steadily en route to the nine-point win. The Spartans hit .536 as a team in the game and held the Aztecs to a .176 attack percentage.
Set four reverted back to the look of the first two contests with San Diego State holding a slight edge over the middle portion of the game before a Spartan surge gave them the lead at 19-17. The Aztecs knotted the score at 20-20, but SJSU scored two points in a row and would not be caught the rest of the way. SDSU got back to within a point three times, but at 24-23 a kill by the Spartan's Lauren Jacobsen gave San Jose the set and tied the match at two sets apiece.
With the momentum now squarely in its favor, San Jose State charged into the fifth set and opened up a 7-1 advantage led by two kills and a pair of blocks by O'Reilly. From there the teams were pretty much even over the rest of the contest, but the Aztecs were able to get back to within five on only one occasion before dropping the final two points on attack errors and enabling the Spartans to capture the set and match victory.
San Diego State now moves over the Fresno where it will face conference foe Fresno State on Saturday, Nov. 9, at noon. That contest may be viewed live on the Mountain Digital Network.