Nov. 12, 2016
SAN DIEGO - After dropping the opening two sets, San Diego State rallied to win the next three as it posted a five-set victory over Wyoming Saturday evening on Aztec Court. SDSU, which fell to the Cowgirls in five sets in Laramie in mid-October, claimed the contest by set scores of 18-25, 14-25, 25-20, 25-28, 15-12.
With the victory the Aztecs end a four-match losing streak and improve to 15-14 overall and 7-8 in the Mountain West. Wyoming, meanwhile, fell to 17-11 and 10-5 in league play.
Alexandra Psoma led SDSU with 19 kills and completed a double-double with 13 digs. Teammate Deja Harris recorded 15 kills along with five blocks and three digs.
The match appeared to turn with the insertion of setter Lauren Utchen to start the third set. The Aztec sophomore notched 30 assists over the final three sets along with three kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks.
Defensively, San Diego State ended the night with 80 digs compared to 60 for the visitors. Libero Devyn Pritchard led SDSU with 22 while Danielle Bolden had 16 to go along with three service aces, three assists and two kills
The opening set was close early when, with the score knotted at 8-8, Wyoming ran off seven straight points to take control of the contest. The closest that the Aztecs could get over the remainder of the set was five points at 20-15, but the visitors eventually went on to the seven-point win. Ashlynn Dunbar's four kills led SDSU, which actually recorded 12 kills to 11 by the Cowgirls but was undone by 11 attack errors and nine team blocks by Wyoming.
The second set saw Wyoming take a quick 3-0 lead and hold the advantage over the entire contest. The Cowgirls slowly built on that early lead en route to the 11-point win. Alexandra Psoma led the Aztecs with three kills, but as a team SDU recorded only eight in the set. UW hit .323 in the game while holding SDSU to a -.118 attack mark.
In the third set it was San Diego State that got out to the early lead at 5-2 and held the advantage the rest of the way. The Aztecs' largest lead was eight points at 19-11 before Wyoming tried to rally only to fall short and suffer the loss. Psoma and Hannah Turnlund had four kills apiece for the Aztecs.
SDSU continued its comeback in the fourth set as it grabbed the lead at 7-6 and held it the rest of the way. Wyoming was still within reach as it trailed by only two at 17-15, but SDSU rallied to capture eight of the final 11 points to secure the set victory. Deja Harris' five kills led San Diego State with Turnlund adding four.
In the fifth and deciding set, the teams split the opening 12 points before the Aztecs won three in a row to go up 9-6. Wyoming came back to within one at 10-9, but SDSU again opened up a three-point lead at 12-9. The Cowgirls responded by closing the gap to a single point at 12-11, and after the teams scored one apiece to make it 13-12, the Aztecs got back-to-back kills from Psoma and Alexis Cage to claim the set and match victory. Psoma led all players with six kills in the contest.
Up next for San Diego State is its 2016 season home finale against UNLV on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 6:00 p.m. on Aztec Court.