Match Week Preview
San Diego State (6-15, 4-4 Mountain West) at San Jose State (8-9, 3-5 Mountain West)
Thursday, Oct. 18 | 6:00 p.m. PT | Spartan Gym | San Jose, Calif. | Mountain West Network
San Diego State (6-15, 4-4 Mountain West) at Nevada (8-11, 1-7 Mountain West)
Saturday, Oct. 20 | 1:00 p.m. PT | Virginia Street Gym | Reno, Nev. | Mountain West Network
Aztec Storylines
BACK ON THE ROAD: San Diego State heads to San Jose State (8-9, 3-5 MW) and Nevada (8-11, 1-7) this weekend, looking to improve upon its current sixth-place standing in the Mountain West. SDSU is 2-1 against MW opponents on the road this season.
SDSU has won three of its previous four matches in San Jose, including a straight-set win last season. In that match, Gabi Peoples recorded 40 assists while Hannah Turnlund and Deja Harris recorded 11 and nine kills, respectively.
The Aztecs ride a six-match winning streak against the Wolf Pack, with SDSU's last loss coming over four years ago on Oct. 16, 2014. Ashlynn Dunbar and Deja Harris both averaged 3.29 kills per set in last year's wins, while Dunbar also contributed 2.14 digs per set. Harris converted at a very efficient rate last season against Nevada, as her 23 kills came on just 35 attempts for a .571 hitting percentage.
GETTING IT DONE AT THE NET: SDSU is 21st in the country and first in the Mountain West with 1091 total kills this season. The Aztecs are also 21st in the country and second in the conference with 200 total blocks this season, leaving the Aztecs as one of five teams in the country to be in the nation's top 25 in both total team kills and total team blocks. The other four teams include Charlotte, New Orleans, Missouri-Kansas City, and Tulane.
LOOKING FOR A NEW WIN STREAK: San Diego State had its five-match winning streak snapped last Saturday, falling in four sets to UNLV. The win streak is tied for the program's longest since winning 12 in a row from Oct. 13 - Nov. 20, 2012.
Below is a statistical comparison between SDSU and its opponents over the recently snapped five-match winning streak.
Statistic SDSU Opp.
Kills 287 245
Attack % .254 .189
Assists 266 230
Digs 283 241
Total Blocks 65.5 38.0
Leaders for SDSU over winning streak:
Kills per set: Ashlynn Dunbar, 3.21
Attack %: Deja Harris, .346
Assists per set: Delaney Taylor, 9.37
Service aces: Ashlynn Dunbar, 11
Digs per set: Loren Teter, 2.90
Blocks per set: Deja Harris, 1.77
HARRIS CLIMBING UP THE RECORD BOOK: Deja Harris has led SDSU in blocks in 17 of a possible 21 matches (including all six wins) this season and has led the Aztecs both offensively and defensively during her final collegiate season. Harris is third in the country and second in the Mountain West with 117 total blocks.
Among active players in Division I, Harris is fifth with 506 career total blocks, 16th in career blocks per set (1.16), 22nd in sets played (435) and 42nd in total kills (1,192). Last week, Harris became the fifth player in MW history and the first in SDSU history to have earned a MW Offensive Player of the Week (won during 2017 season) and a MW Defensive Player of the Week award in the same career.
Harris stands fifth in the MW in hitting percentage (.333), second in blocks per set (1.36), and fifth in points per set (4.05). Harris is the only player in the conference to be in the top five in both hitting percentage and points per set.
SDSU Career Block Assist Leaders
1. Jennifer Miller (1989-92) 480
2. Andrea Hannasch (2009-12) 471
3. Deja Harris (2014 - present) 440
*Harris is also 9th in SDSU history with 284 career block points
ACE-LYNN DUNBAR: Ashlynn Dunbar is second the Mountain West and fifth in the country with 42 service aces this season. Dunbar's 42 aces also mark as the most by Aztec in a single season since Robyn Gregg recorded 61 in 2002. Gregg, who recorded 76 service aces in 2001 (eighth most for a single season in program history), is the only Aztec in the MW era (since 1999) to have more service aces than Dunbar in a season.
BALANCED DEFENSIVE EFFORT: San Diego State has had four different players (Ashlynn Dunbar, Sam McGrath, Loren Teter, Lauren Lee) record a 20+ dig game this season and five post a single-match team-high in digs (also Hannah Turnlund).SDSU has recorded 1,104 digs this season in comparison to 1,045 digs by its opponents, and have four players averaging 2.0 digs per set or more, including Sam McGrath (2.59), Ashlynn Dunbar (2.45), Lauren Lee (2.23) and Loren Teter (2.16).
VB Travels to San Jose State and Nevada
