Nov. 16, 2016
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State volleyball team wrapped up its 2016 home season in style with a three set (25-23, 25-22, 25-13) victory over UNLV Wednesday evening on Aztec Court.
With the win SDSU improved to 16-14 overall and evened its Mountain West record to 8-8. The loss was only the sixth of the year for the Rebels, who fell to 22-6 overall and 11-5 in conference play.
Alexandra Psoma led the Aztecs with 16 kills and was joined in double figures in that category by teammate Deja Harris with 10. Psoma also tied her career high with six blocks and added three digs and an assist to her stat line. Harris recorded seven blocks along with one dig.
Setter Lauren Utchen, making the start after her effort against Wyoming last Saturday, ended the evening with 38 assists and notched a career-best four kills along with six digs, a block and a service ace.
Libero Devyn Pritchard led all players with 17 digs over the three sets while Danielle Bolden had a dozen. Both Pritchard and Bolden also chipped in with three assists apiece.
The Aztecs hit .280 for the match compared to .133 for the Rebels. SDSU led UNLV in every category including kills (51-32), assists (46-29), service aces (3-1), digs (56-41) and team blocks (9-4).
In the opening set, the teams stayed within a point of each other until San Diego State took a three-point lead at 17-14. SDSU held that advantage over the next several points, but the Rebels climbed back to within a point at 22-21.
After the teams traded two points apiece, a kill by Emma Fuzie gave the Aztecs the two-point victory. Psoma led all players with five kills while Deja Harris and Fuzie contributed four apiece.
In set number two, San Diego State fell behind early at 10-6 and UNLV led by as many as five at 17-12 midway through the contest. The Aztecs still trailed by four late at 20-16, but narrowed the margin to a single point at 21-20.
After the visitors recorded a point to up their lead to two (22-20), SDSU went on a five-point run to claim the set win. That run included a Rebel attack error, two kills by Fuzie and two by Psoma including the set winner. The latter along with teammate Harris had five kills in the contest to lead SDSU.
The third set saw the Aztecs dominate the contest as they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead behind the serving of Danielle Bolden. Although she didn't record an ace, Bolden's jump serve caused three overs that were easily put away by her teammates for points.
SDSU increased its lead to eight points at 10-2 and the Rebels were unable to get closer than six (at 12-6) the rest of the way. Psoma added six kills to her impressive night with seven other Aztecs notching at least one kill in the set. Alexis Cage's second kill of the set provided the match winner as SDSU captured what was the lone meeting between the teams in 2016.
San Diego State will now prepare to embark on its final road trip of the 2016 campaign that gets underway with a visit to New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 19, for a match at 2:00 p.m. (MT) at the Johnson Center in Albuquerque.