Aug. 26, 2016
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State opened its 2016 season in style with a three-set victory (25-18, 25-14, 25-14) over Marist in action at the Aztec Invitational Friday evening on their home court.
Sophomore outside hitter Alexandra Psoma led SDSU with 11 kills, a block and three digs as she was the only player in the match to record double figures in kills.
Freshman Ashlynn Dunbar was impressive in her collegiate debut as she recorded nine kills, four blocks, three service aces and six digs while teammate Emma Fuzie had eight kills along with three blocks, an ace and two digs.
Using a two-setter system, the twosome of senior Hailey Jones and sophomore transfer Indigo Thompson had almost identical stats as they finished with 19 and 17 assists respectively while each notching seven digs.
The Aztecs got the opening set off to a flying start as they ran out to a 10-3 lead and did not allow Marist to get closer than four the rest of the way. Psoma led SDSU with five kills. Two digs and block while Dunbar had three kills, five digs, two blocks and a service ace. The Aztecs were hitting over .500 s a team midway through the set, but cooled off to finish with a .250 attack percentage while holding the visitors to a .000 mark.
The second set saw the Red Foxes jump out to 3-0 lead before the Aztecs caught them at 5-5. From there the teams traded four points before SDDU went ahead for good at 8-7 and slowly extended their advantage en route to the 10-point victory. Fuzie led all players with five kills while teammate Alexis Cage recorded four. The Aztecs ended the set with a .419 hitting percentage and held Maris to a .077 attack mark.
In the third set, SDU took a 7-3 lead, but the visitors closed to within two at 7-5 before the Aztecs took control of the contest. At that point the home side rattled off four consecutive points to go up 11-5 and the Red Foxes only got to within four once over the rest of the set (11-7). Psoma again paced San Diego State with four kills and an .800 hitting percentage in the contest while Dunbar added three kills, a block and an ace.
San Diego State will continue action at the 2016 Aztec Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 27, when it faces Michigan State at 10:30 a.m. The Spartans defeated Denver in three sets earlier today.
SDSU will wrap up the tourney tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. with a contest against Denver.