HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The San Diego State volleyball team showed signs of a potential comeback before a crowd of 5,610 against Hawai'i on Sunday night, but ultimately fell in four sets to the Rainbow Wahine, 21-25, 17-25, 25-19, 17-25. San Diego State falls to 1-8 heading into its last non-conference weekend of the season, while Hawai'i, which entered the 2018 season receiving votes in the AVCA national rankings, improves to 4-3.
Hawai'i came out of the gates quickly, firing off a 5-0 run to start the match behind a trio of kills by Natasha Burns. Later in the set with the Rainbow Wahine up 17-10, the Aztecs fired off a run of their own, as a Lauren Lee service ace capped a 6-0 run for SDSU and cut Hawai'i's lead to just one. To continue the trend in a hot-cold opening set, Hawai'i distanced themselves from the Aztecs with a 6-1 run to bring the score to 23-17 and eventually take the set, 25-21.
The second set featured 11 ties after a Hawai'i service error made the score even at 15-15, but Hawai'i used three kills from three different players to take a critical 18-15 lead. The Rainbow Wahine outhit SDSU, .395 - .222 for the set, and captured a 2-0 lead after ending the second set on a 4-0 run.
The third set had a similar beginning as the second set, with the game again being tied at 15-15 after a Hawai'i attack error. However, the Aztecs had four different players (Ashlynn Dunbar (2), Deja Harris, Hannah Turnlund, Tamia Reeves) record each of its last five kills to end the set on a commanding 7-1 run and cut Hawai'i's lead with a 25-19 win.
Dunbar was the offensive catalyst for the Aztecs in the third set, recording five kills with no errors on 12 swings for a .417 hitting percentage for the set. Harris and Reeves each contributed three kills apiece in the third-set win, helping SDSU outhit Hawai'i, .364 - .098. On the defensive end, Lee and Turnlund led the way with four digs each, while eight different Aztecs logged at least one dig in the set.
With an opportunity to force the fifth set, one of Dunbar's five fourth-set kills helped tie the score at 5-5, but a 7-2 run for Hawai'i created a sizeable gap at 12-7. Dunbar's offensive success from the third set carried into the fourth, with the junior recording five kills with one error on 11 swings for a .364 hitting percentage.
Hawai'i flipped the script after its third-set offensive woes, having seven different players record a kill in the Rainbow Wahine's match-clinching 25-17 fourth-set win.
Dunbar led all players in the match with 16 kills, while Harris logged a match-best seven blocks in addition to a double-digit kill performance with 10. Dunbar recorded her team-best fourth double double of the season, recording 12 digs, while Lee led the Aztec defense with 13 digs in the match.
Delaney Taylor and Camryn Machado split time at setter, with the duo recording 22 and 13 assists, respectively.
THE NOTE
· Deja Harris was named to the 2018 Outrigger Volleyball Challenge All-Tournament Team. It is the fourth regular-season all-tournament honor for Harris in the last two seasons.
· Today's match was the sixth-time head coach Deitre Collins-Parker has coached against her alma mater, split between three times as head coach for SDSU and three times as head coach for UNLV. Collins-Parker was a two-time national champion as a player at Hawai'i, along with being named an all-American three times and national player of the year twice.
· SDSU out hit Hawai'i, .364-.098, in its third-set win. It is the largest hitting percentage differential (.266) in a single game for the Aztecs this season.
. As of Sunday night, San Diego State's six of SDSU's 2018 opponents have records of .500 or better. Collectively, SDSU's eight 2018 opponents own a 42-27 record. San Diego State this season has played Portland twice, which currently stands at 9-0 on the season.
UP NEXT
San Diego State co-hosts the SDSU/USD Challenge, which begins Friday. The Aztecs will open the weekend with a 6:00 p.m. match against Oregon State (6-2) on Friday.
VB's Comeback Attempt Against Hawai'i Falls Short
