SAN DIEGO – Behind a banner night from junior Ashlynn Dunbar, the San Diego State volleyball snapped a 13-match losing streak in a thrilling five-set (25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13) win over Wyoming at Peterson Gym on Saturday night. SDSU earns its first Mountain West win of the season, improving to 2-14 (1-3 MW), while the Cowgirls fall to 10-6 (2-2 MW).
The Aztecs and Cowgirls battled closely early in the first set, as the teams went point-for-point until the Aztecs went on a 3-0 run to gain a 9-6 lead. SDSU was able to distance itself midway through the set, as a 5-0 run featuring kills by Dunbar, Tamia Reeves and Erin Gillcrist gave SDSU a 18-13 lead. The Aztecs finished the first set outhitting the Cowgirls .243 - .154, while Gillcrist finished with a match-high five first-set kills in the 25-20 win.
Wyoming was quick to rebound from its slow offensive start, however, as the Cowgirls logged a .371 hitting percentage in the second set. After erasing SDSU's early 2-0 lead and eventually taking a 9-8 lead, the Cowgirls never looked back and eventually reciprocated the first-set score in the second set, evening the match after a 25-20 win.
The Aztecs fell into a 2-1 hole after the Cowgirls posted a .303 team hitting percentage in the third set, despite Dunbar recording six kills in the third set. With SDSU trailing 16-13, The Aztecs went on a 4-1 run to tie the match at 17-17. SDSU and Wyoming continued to battle closely until late in the set with the score tied at 23-23, but the Cowgirls eventually took the set, 25-23, after ending the set on a SDSU attack error and an Emily Lewis kill.
SDSU was quick to begin its dig out of the 2-1 deficit, with the Aztecs jumping out to an early 8-4 fourth-set lead behind kills by Gillcrist, Hannah Turnlund, Dunbar, and Harris. With Wyoming taking a timeout at that 8-4 score, SDSU continued built that lead to 10-4 before Wyoming began its attempt at a comeback, eventually knotting the set at 18-18. Dunbar, who posted nine kills in the fourth set – the most kills by an Aztec in a single set this season – posted each of SDSU's final three kills to cap off a 25-21 win and force the fifth set.
With the fifth set tied at 10-10, Wyoming took its biggest lead of the set after a 2-0 run brought the score to 12-10. SDSU capitalized on a pair of Wyoming errors, including a match-changing replay challenge by head coach Deitre Collins-Parker. After an attack by Emily Lewis was originally deemed a kill and gave the Cowgirls a 14-11 lead, the call was overturned and ruled a Wyoming net violation, decreasing the Aztec deficit to 13-12. The set ended with three Wyoming attack errors, giving SDSU a narrow 15-13 fifth set win to clinch their first conference victory of the season.
Dunbar finished her night with career-highs in kills (23) and digs (22). Gillcrist, Turnlund, and Harris also contributed double-digit kill totals with 15, 12, 11 kills, respectively.
Delaney Taylor contributed a match-high 35 assists after entering the match off the bench in the third set. Sam McGrath, Turnlund, and Lauren Lee posted 16, 11, 10 digs, respectively, to lead the defensive effort.
NOTES
- Ashlynn Dunbar became the first Aztec player in the Mountain West era to record 20 kills and 20 digs in the same match. It was her seventh double double of the season and the 11th of her career and both her 23 kills and 22 digs are new career-highs. Dunbar also set match-bests in hitting percentage (.383) and service aces (5).
- SDSU improves to 8-2 in its last 10 home matches against Wyoming.
- SDSU set season-bests in digs (78) and assists (66).
- The match featured 35 different tie scores and 14 total lead changes.
UP NEXT
SDSU plays its final non-conference match of the season on Tuesday, hosting crosstown foe San Diego for a match at 6:00 p.m. The Aztec-Torero contest will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network.