Sept. 4, 2015
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State opened its 2015 home season on a losing note as it dropped a three-set decision to Pacific (25-23, 25-21, 25-21) Friday evening on Aztec court. The match was part of annual tournament, this year branded the SDSU/USD 2015 Challenge being co-hosted by the Aztecs and Toreros.
Junior outside hitter Baylee Little led SDSU with 12 kills while adding six digs, two blocks and an assist to her stat line. Teammate Ciara Brown joined Little in double figures in kills with 10 as she turned in a .474 hitting percentage over the three sets.
Redshirt freshman Deja Harris continued her hot hitting to begin the season as she recorded a .500 attack percentage with nine kills and three blocks.
Setter Hailey Jones led all players with 41 assists and also chipped in with six digs.
UOP's Lexi Elman took match honors for kills with 13 and completed a double-double with 10 digs. The visitors hit .351 for the match while SDSU ended the evening with a .282 hitting mark.
The opening set saw the Aztecs take the lead at 2-1 and maintain the advantage until Pacific knotted the score at 17-17. The contest then went back and forth with the Aztecs eventually forging a 23-22 lead late in the game. But from there, the Tigers got a kill from Elman to tie the set and a bad SDSU set and hitting error then gave the visitors the points to win the set. Little led all players with six kills, but the Aztec hit .209 compared to .268 for UOP.
In the second set it was Pacific that led from start to finish, opening up as much as a seven-point lead at 23-17. Trailing 24-17, the Aztecs rallied for four straight points, but the Tiger put the set away on an SDSU attack error. Harris and Emma Fuzie had five kills apiece as the Aztecs registered a team total of 17 to 15 for the visitors. The home side hit an impressive .324 in the contest, but Pacific recorded a .467 team hitting mark en route to the set victory.
In set number three, San Diego state jumped out to an 8-4 lead, but then lost its grip on the momentum as Pacific rallied to tie the contest at 9-9, after the teams traded points, the Tigers ran off two straight to take the lead for good. That advantage varied from two to four points the remainder of the set as the visitors closed out the match with a four-point win. Elman led all players with seven kills while Little topped the Aztecs with five.
San Diego State continues action at the SDSU/USD 2015 Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 5, with a pair of matches. The Aztecs will face TCU in the morning contest at 10:30 a.m. and wrap up the tournament with a contest vs. Oregon State at 7:30 p.m.