Oct. 9, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State rallied from a two-set-to-one deficit to defeat New Mexico (17-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 15-8) Thursday evening on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym. In the process the Aztecs handed the Lobos their first loss in Mountain West play while improving to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in league action. UNM saw its record drop to 11-6 (4-1 MW).
Four Aztecs finished in double figures in kills in the match led by a dozen from Ciara Brown, who also had three blocks and a pair of digs. Freshman Alexis Cage posted her season high with 11 kills and also contributed eight digs, three blocks and an assist.
Senior Chaiymin Steel posted 10 kills and 11 digs to notch her first career double-double as an Aztec. Kaja Sandberg also finished in double digits in kills with 10 and added six blocks. Freshman Jensen Cunningham led all players with seven total blocks including a pair of solo efforts.
Setter Courtney Eckenrode also added a double-double, her second of the season with 51 assists and 17 digs. Both of those totals represented season/career highs for the freshman from The Woodlands, Texas. Libero Alexa Saba also notched her career high with 21 digs.
New Mexico's Chantale Riddle, the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, finished with a match-high 17 kills and also chipped in with 11 digs and four blocks. The Lobos ended the night with a .182 team hitting percentage compared to .224 for SDSU.
In the opening set New Mexico built a 10-6 lead and held the advantage over the remainder of the contest. The closest the Aztecs could get was two points at 13-11 as the Lobos controlled play at the net. SDSU tallied just nine kills in the set with eight of their points coming on five UNM service errors and three hitting miscues. Riddle led all players with five kills while three Aztecs ended the game with two kills apiece.
In the second set it was the Aztecs who grabbed the early lead at 10-4 and built on that margin en route to the 10-point victory. Steel paced SDSU's offense with four kills as the home side hit .333 for the contest while holding the Lobos to a .083 attack mark. Sandberg and Brown registered two blocks apiece while Riddle led the visitors with five more kills.
Set number three was much closer than the first two as the teams were within two points of each other over the final half of the contest. SDSU fought off a match point at 24-23 thanks to a Lobo hitting error, but dropped the ensuing two points on a kill by Skye Gullat and a ball handling error. Steel led all players with five kills in the set while Riddle added four more to her total for the visitors.
Set four was another close one that saw SDSU run off four straight points at 17-17 to take a 21-17 lead late in the contest. The Lobos clawed their way back to within one at 22-21 only for a bad set and ball handling error to put the Aztecs up 24-21. After UNM got a point back on an Aztec service error, Brown, who led all players with five kills in the game, finished off the set with a kill to tie the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and deciding set, San Diego State came out and grabbed the momentum by winning five of the first six points. After New Mexico closed to within two at 5-3, the Aztecs ran off six straight points on two kills by Cage, one by Brown and three Lobo hitting errors. The Lobos tried to mount a comeback, getting as close at five at 11-6, but SDSU would go on to win four of the final six points to claim the set and match. Brown had three kills to lead the Aztecs as she matched the team output by UNM in the game.
San Diego State will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 11, when it hosts Air Force for a match scheduled to get underway at 6:00 p.m. on Aztec Court.