Nov. 15, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State Head Coach Deitre Collins-Parker recorded her 100th win in charge of the Aztec volleyball program as her team defeated Nevada in five sets (12-25, 25-15, 25-22, 20-25, 15-8) Saturday evening on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym.
With the victory SDSU evened its season record at 13-13 and improved to 8-7 in the Mountain West. Nevada, meanwhile, saw its ledger drop to 7-18 (4-11 MW).
Four Aztecs ended the night in double figures in kills led by juniors Ciara Brown and Kaja Sandberg with 13 apiece. Brown added nine digs and a block to her stat line while Sandberg finished with a team-high four blocks.
Sophomore Baylee Little contributed 12 kills along with three service aces, three blocks and three digs. Alexis Cage also registered double figure in kills with 11 and chipped in with a pair of blocks and two digs.
Freshman Devyn Pritchard made the start at the libero position and led all players with 20 digs while also notching a pair of service aces. Setter Courtney Eckenrode, who missed a majority of the first set after being injured, ended the evening with 42 assists.
The opening set saw Nevada jump out to an 8-3 lead at which time Eckenrode suffered an injury and was lost for the remainder of the contest. From that point the Aztecs were unable to find an offensive rhythm as the Wolf Pack went on to a convincing 13-point win. Nevada hit .577 for the game while San Diego State managed just a .182 attack mark.
With Eckenrode returning for the second set, it was the Aztecs who grabbed the early lead, maintained it and eventually captured the game by 10 points. A 7-5 SDSU advantage was quickly turned into a 17-10 lead with the visitors unable to get closer than five the rest of the way. Brown, Little and Cage led San Diego State with three kills apiece as the Aztecs hit .345 in the set and held the Wolf Pack to a .111 attack percentage.
Set number three, in contrast to the first two, was a tight affair from start to finish. Although San Diego State took an early 6-0 lead, the Wolf Pack worked its way back into the contest and eventually knotted the score at 13-13. From there the teams were separated by no more than a point until, at 17-all, the Aztecs scored three straight points on a pair of kills by Sandberg and a Nevada attack error. The visitors got no closer than two after that with SDSU getting the set-winning kill from Chaiymin Steel. Brown led the Aztecs with five kills in the game.
The fourth set was another close contest with the eventually settling in at 17-17. Nevada then tallied five consecutive points, four of which came on SDSU attack errors. Sandberg led the Aztecs with four kills, but the visitors hit .333 for the set and recorded three team blocks to none for SDSU.
The fifth and deciding set had San Diego State taking control early as in ran out to a3-0 lead. After Nevada closed the gap to 3-2, SDSU rattled off three points in a row on a kill and service ace by Little along with a Wolf Pack attack miscue. After the visitors scored once to trail 6-3, the Aztecs again rallied for a trio of consecutive scores to make it 9-3 and they were able to see out the contest with a seven-point margin of victory. Little was the driving force in the set with three kills, a service ace and a block.
San Diego State will be back on the road next week as it travels to Idaho to take on Boise State on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7:00 p.m. (MT) in Bronco Gym. The Aztecs will return for their final home match of the 2014 campaign next Saturday, Nov. 22, when they host Utah State at 6:00 p.m.