Aug. 30, 2016
AZTECS TRAVEL TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR OREGON CLASSIC
San Diego State makes its first road trip of the season when it visits Eugene, Ore., for the annual Oregon Classic. In addition to the host Ducks, the other tourney participants include UC Davis and Murray State. The Aztecs will get the tourney underway with a contest against UC Davis on Friday, Sept. 2, at 1:00 p.m. (PT) in the Matthew Knight Arena and face Oregon at 8:00 p.m. that evening. SDSU will wrap up the tourney on Saturday, Sept. 3, against Murray State at 330 p.m. Live stats will be available for all matches this weekend with links available at GoAztecs.com. In addition, SDSU's contest vs. Oregon Friday evening will have live video streaming with the link posted on GoAztecs.com
SERIES RECORDS
***San Diego State has a record of 2-0 all-time vs. UC Davis with wins in 1977 and 2013. The win in 2013 came in the season opener at the Tiger Classic at LSU.
***The Aztecs have a record of 6-3 against Oregon with the most recent meeting, an Oregon victory, coming during the 2006 campaign in Eugene. Prior to that contest, the teams had not faced each other since the 1988 season.
***San Diego State's record against Murray State stands at 1-0 with the Aztecs winning the lone match against the Racers in the 1990 season opener in San Diego.
ALL-TOURNAMENT AZTEC
Senior middle blocker Emma Fuzie was named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Aztec Invitational. The second-year Aztec, who transferred from Pepperdine in 2015, averaged 2.17 kills with a .412 hitting percentage along with 0.83 blocks, 0.33 aces and 0.42 digs per set over SDU's three matches. Her 12 kills and 16.5 points in the contest vs. Denver were both career bests. She also turned in a personal high .889 hitting percentage in the win over Marist to open the tourney.
TEAM STATS LEAD OPPONENTS
Despite dropping two of three matches last weekend, the Aztecs' team stat averages are higher than their opponents in every category except service aces. That includes bettering opponent's marks in kills per set (12.17 to 11.33), hitting percentage (.220 to .209), assists per set (11.08 to 10.67), digs per set (12.42 to 11.17) and blocks per set (2.12 to 2.08)
DUNBAR IMPRESSES
Highly-touted freshman outside hitter Ashlynn Dunbar was impressive in her collegiate debut during the Aztec Invitational. Over the three matches she averaged 2.00 kills and 1.17 digs per set. Dunbar also averaged just under a block per set (0.83) and recorded thee service aces, second-most on the squad in the three matches. Her best effort came in the tourney finale vs. Denver when she notched 10 kills and four blocks.
SETTERS SHARE TIME
The Aztecs ran a two two-setter system during the opening weekend of the season with senior Hailey Jones and sophomore transfer Indigo Thompson sharing time on the court. The pair finished the weekend with comparable stats as each averaged 5.17 assists per set. Thompson also averaged 2.50 digs per set while Jones had 2.00 per set.
AMONG THE MW LEADERS
After the opening weekend of the season, three Aztecs are among the Mountain West leaders in various categories. Sophomore middle blocker Deja Harris ranks fourth with a .450 hitting percentage and is ninth with a mark of 1.08 blocks per set. Emma Fuzie's .412 hitting percentage ranks sixth in the conference this week. Junior defensive specialist Danielle Bolden ranks seventh in service aces with a mark of 0.45 per set.
STAFF ADDITIONS
The Aztecs have added a new assistant coach and student manger to their 2016 staff. Michele Chatman-Smith, a former All-America player at Florida, joins the SDSU program after eight seasons as an assistant coach at Central Florida. Her duties include overseeing team defensive training as well as assisting with recruiting. In addition, former SDSU team member Jordan Conole has taken on the role of student manger this season after redshirting during her first year at San Diego State.