Aug. 29, 2014
HONOLULU - A young San Diego State volleyball squad opened its 2014 campaign by dropping a three-set match (25-18, 25-21, 25-14) to No. 25 Arizona State in the tourney opener at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu. Of the 11 players who appeared in the match for the Aztecs, six were making their collegiate debut.
Senior Chaiymin Steel and sophomore Baylee Little led SDSU with six kills apiece as the accounted for almost half of their team's total (26). Steel added eight digs and a pair of blocks to her stat line while Little also had two blocks along with four digs, and assists and a service ace.
Starting setter Chloe Mathis recorded a dozen assists and added sox digs and a pair of blocks. She also registered a pair of kills on four attacks. Freshman setter Courtney Eckenrode, who appeared in the final two sets, finished with 10 assists and two digs.
Arizona State controlled the offensive tempo of the match, finishing with a team hitting mark of .294 compared to .062 for the Aztecs. The Sun Devils trailed only once over the three sets, that coming in the third contest when SDSU won the opening point.
SDSU was also done in by 20 attack errors while ASU had only eight. The teams finished even in team blocks with six apiece while the Aztecs tallied doe more dig that the Devils (47-46).
San Diego continues play in Honolulu on Saturday (Aug. 30) when it faces defending Mid-American Conference champion Ohio in a match schedule to get underway at 5:30 p.m. in Hawaii (8:30 pm. PT).