Oct. 6, 2016
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State turned its seventh victory in its last nine outings as it defeated visiting Fresno State, 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22), Thursday evening on Aztec Court. With the win SDSU improved to 11-7 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West and it moved into a tie for third place in the conference standings.
Three Aztecs ended the night in double figures in kills led by 12 from Alexandra Psoma. The sophomore outside hitter from Greece also established her SDSU career best with six blocks and recorded eight digs.
Others in double figure in kills included Emma Fuzie and Deja Harris who had 11 apiece. Fuzie had five blocks and a pair of service aces to go with a .474 hitting percentage over the four sets with Harris adding four blocks, three digs and a .304 attack mark.
Setter Indigo Thompson finished with 30 assists in the three sets in which she appeared and also contributed three digs and a block. Libero Devyn Pritchard led all players with 13 digs.
Fresno State opened the match by winning the first three points and led the entire set. The Bulldogs extended their advantage to 20-14 only to see the Aztecs climb back to within one at 24-23 before an SDSU ball handling error allowed the visitors to capture the set victory. Alexis Cage had five kills to lead the Aztecs while Harris chipped in with three.
Set number two was a mirror image of the opener as San Diego State jumped out to a 4-0 lead and was never caught. The Aztecs upped their lead to as many as 10 points at 18-8 before bringing home the nine-point set win. Psoma ended the contest with six kills with Harris adding four to her total. SDSU hit .333 for the set while Fresno State was held to a -.050 attack mark.
The third set started the same as the first with Fresno State taking the early lead and opening it up to as many as six points at 15-9. From there, however, SDSU began a gradual comeback that saw them eventually tie the contest at 22-22. After the teams traded a point apiece, the Aztecs got a kill from Psoma and a Bulldog hitting error to claim the set. Freshman Hannah Turnlund led the home side with four kills while Fuzie finished with three in the set.
In the fourth set, the teams battled to a tie at 16-16 and neither side could forge more than a three-point lead the rest of the way. That came when the Aztecs took a 19-16 lead, but the Bulldogs scored the next three points to tie it at 19-all. The teams traded several points up to 22-22 at which time a block by Cage and a Fresno State attack error set the stage for Cage to finish off the set and match with her eighth kill of the night.
San Diego State will continue home action on Saturday, Oct. 8, with a contest against San Jose State scheduled to get underway at 1:00 p.m. (PT) on Aztec Court.