Sept. 5, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State made its 2014 home debut a successful one with a four-set (25-14, 25-20, 25-23, 25-16) win over Brown Friday evening on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. With the victory SDSU improved to 1-3 on the young season while the Bears dropped to 0-2.
Four Aztecs finished in double figures in kills led by sophomore Baylee Little and South Florida transfer Ciara Brown, both of whom had 13 and also registered three blocks on the night. Little added 10 digs, to record her first career double-double at SDSU along with a career-high four service aces. Junior Halle Aiken and freshman Jensen Cunningham contributed 10 kills apiece with Aiken adding 11 digs for her first career double-double.
Senior setter Chloe Mathis notched her third double-double in four matches this season with 34 assists and 11 digs. Freshman Courtney Eckenrode, who appeared in just one set, tallied 15 assists and a pair of digs.
Freshman libero Devyn Pritchard had a team-best 15 digs while redshirt freshman Alexa Saba chipped in with 10.
SDSU ended the match with a team hitting percentage of .273 while holding Brown to a .164 attack mark. The Aztecs totaled 61 kills to 37 for the Bears and also had 7.5 team blocks to 2.0 for the visitors.
The opening set saw San Diego State race out to a 10-4 lead and not allow Brown back to within less than five points. Cunningham led all players with five kills and along with Kaja Sandberg and Little had two blocks. The Aztecs hit .355 in the contest and held the visitors to a .091 attack mark.
The second set was a closer affair as the Bears never trailed by more than four and were within two at 21-19. From there, however, SDSU scored four of the next five points on a pair of kills by Aiken, one by Little and a service ace by Deja Harris. Little and Aiken had five kills apiece in the contest to lead the Aztec attack.
Brown trailed from the outset in game three, but fought back to tie the score at 18-18. After the teams traded two points apiece, the Bears got a kill form Shirin Tooloe and an SDSU attack error to go up by two. From there the teams alternated points until a kill by Maddie Lord secured the set win for Brown. Lord and teammate McKenna Webster led the visitors with four kills each while Aiken matched that number for the Aztecs.
San Diego State re-established control of the match early in third set. Leading 6-4, the Aztec ran off five straight points keyed by three consecutive service aces by Little. Brown could only cut SDSU's lead to six the rest of the way as the home side went on to the nine-point win. Ciara Brown tallied five kills in the game for the Aztecs while hitting at a .556 clip.
San Diego State continues action at the SDSU-USD 2014 Challenge on Saturday when it faces Villanova at 7:00 p.m. on Aztec Court. Earlier in the day, Villanova will play Cal State Fullerton at noon followed by Brown vs. Cal State Fullerton at 4:30 p.m.