Sept. 3, 2016
EUGENE, Ore. - San Diego State volleyball team wrapped up play at the 2016 Oregon Classic in Eugene, Ore., Saturday afternoon with a tight 3-1 victory (25-23, 29-27, 26-28, 25-18) over Murray State. With the win, the Aztecs evened their season record at 3-3 while the Racers ended the weekend with an identical mark.
A trio of SDSU players finished in double figures in kills with Alexandra Psoma leading the way with 15. The sophomore from Athens, Greece, also recorded nine digs, three service aces, two blocks and an assist in the winning effort.
Joining Psoma in double figure in kills were teammates Tamia Reeves and Deja Harris with 13 and 10 respectively. Reeves, making her first start and just her second appearance of the season, hit .722 over the four sets and also chipped in with five digs. Harris, meanwhile added five blocks, four digs and an assist to her final stat line.
Other Aztec leaders in the contest included Alexis Cage with 20 digs and Emma Fuzie with six blocks. In addition, setter Hailey Jones recorded her third double-double in six matches with 33 assists and 12 digs.
Harris and Cage were named to the Oregon Classic all-tournament team after their performances over the weekend. Harris averaged 2.60 kills and 1.20 blocks over SDSU's three contests while Cage turned in marks of 2.19 kills and 3.10 digs per set.
In the match against Murray State. The first three sets were decided by two points with two of them going to extra points.
In the opening set, the Racers held a slim lead over the early potion of the contest until SDSU tied it at 14-14. From there neither team could forge more than a two-point advantage and the game was still tied at 23-23 before a back-to-back hitting errors by Murray State gave the Aztecs the 25-23 win. Danielle Bolden's three kills led SDSU as the team finished with a total of 12 while the Racers could manage only 13.
In the second set, San Diego State held a four-point lead (18-14) late in the contest, but Murray State fought back to tie the contest at 20-20. The teams then traded several points with the Aztecs having a chance to claim the set when they went ahead 24-23. The Racers then had a pair of opportunities to win it as they led 26-25 and 27-26, but kills by Psoma and Harris brought SDSU back to even in both cases. Finally, with the score even at 27-27, it was again a pair of Racer attack errors that allowed the Aztecs to claim the set.
Set three saw the Aztecs fight back from a 22-19 deficit to move ahead with a chance to close out the match with a 25-24 lead. The Racers tied it, however, and after each team won a point it was Murray State that got a kill and an SDSU hitting error to win the set and remain alive in the match.
In set number four, San Diego State led from start to finish to secure the match victory, but it was far from easy. The Aztecs held a 19-11 lead and were looking to finish off the contest before Murray State scored six straight points to get to within two at 19-17. But SDSU was able to win six of the next seven points with the help of a pair of kills by Harris and two service aces from Psoma to close out the match.
San Diego State will now return home to prepare for a match against UC Irvine scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 6:00 p.m. on Aztec Court in Peterson Gym.