Oct. 11, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State used a balanced offensive attack as it defeated Air Force in three sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-20) Saturday night on Aztec Court. With the victory SDSU improved to 7-8 overall and moved to 3-2 in the Mountain West. The loss dropped the Falcons to 8-10 (3-3 MW).
Senior Chaiymin Steel led all players with 12 kills on the night and also contributed three blocks, six digs, an assist and two service aces while hitting .391 over the three sets.
Fellow Aztec Alexis Cage added 10 kills and three digs along with a .476 attack mark with outside hitter Ciara Brown finishing with eight kills and a block.
Freshman setter Courtney Eckenrode notched her third double-double of the year with a 30 kill-12 dig effort and also chipped in with a pair of kills. Libero Alexa Saba added 13 digs on the defensive side for SDSU. Defensive specialists Danielle Bolden and Devyn Pritchard both had personal highs with three service aces apiece.
Air Force came out ready to play in the opening set and quickly ran out to a 13-5 lead. San Diego state, however, slowly got back into the match. Trailing 17-14, the Aztecs ran off five consecutive points behind a kill by Steel, two service aces by Jensen Cunningham and a pair of Falcon hitting errors. Brown paced the Aztecs with five kills while Steel added four as the duo accounted for nine of SDSU's kills in the game.
Set number two saw Air Force get out of the gate on top as it grabbed a 4-2 lead early in the contest. SDSU, however, tied the game at 5-5, and after the teams traded points the Aztecs took control by running off eight straight points to go up 14-6. Alexis Cage recorded eight kills in the set to lead all players as SDSU hit .367 in the game.
In the third set SDSU once again found itself behind early as Air Force carved out a quick 5-3 lead. The Aztecs tied the game at 5-5 and the teams remained even until 10-10 when the Aztec scored back to-back points on a kill by Eckenrode and service ace by Bolden. SDSU held the advantage until the Falcons came on to tie the contest at 17-17.
At that point a service ace by Pritchard and kill by Steel gave SDSU the lead for good. The visitors got back to within point at 19-18, but the Aztecs scored six of the set's final eight points to capture the match victory. Steel led all players with six kills in the set.
San Diego State returns to the road next weekend for a pair of Mountain West contests beginning with a match in Reno at the University of Nevada on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m. (PT)