Sept. 1, 2014
HONOLULU - San Diego State concluded play at the 2014 Chevron Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu Sunday evening as it fell to host Hawai'i, 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-14). The Aztecs completed their season-opening weekend with a record of 0-3 while the Rainbow Wahine improved to 2-1.
Sophomore transfer Ciara Brown (South Florida) led SDSU with 14 kills while senior Chaiymin Steel finished the evening with seven kills and eight digs. Steel's consistent play over the Aztecs' three tourney matches earned her all-tournament honors.
Setter Chloe Mathis notched her second double-double in two days with a 27 assist-13 dig performance over the four sets. In addition, freshman libero Devyn Pritchard continued to impress as she recorded 20 digs. Kaja Sandberg was the Aztecs' leading blocker in the match with three.
Hawai'i' controlled the tempo for most of the contest as it ended the night with a .317 team hitting percentage compared to .093 for San Diego State.
After running out to early five-point leads and coasting to wins in the first two sets, the Rainbow Wahine saw the Aztecs take a quick 3-1 lead in the third set and maintain that lead until the late stages of the contest. The home side finally caught up at 23-23, but a service error and bad set gave SDSU the win.
The Wahine, however, regained the upper hand in the fourth set, racing out to a quick 6-0 lead before the Aztecs pulled to within two at 12-10. From that point UH pulled away for the nine-point set victory and the match win.
San Diego State now returns home to prepare for its annual Aztec Invitational tournament next weekend. SDSU will open its 2014 home season at that event with a match vs. Brown on Friday, Sept. 5, at 7:00 p.m. on newly-renovated Aztec Court in Peterson Gym.