SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State volleyball team posted a .410 hitting percentage – the team's best since Sept. 1, 2012 – to sweep crosstown foe San Diego, 25-15, 25-19, 25-23, at Peterson Gym on Tuesday night. The Aztecs snapped a five-match losing streak to Toreros, earning their first win against USD since 2012, while sweeping the Toreros for the first time since 1999. The Toreros entered tonight's match receiving votes in the AVCA national rankings.
The Aztecs started the match with a red-hot .571 hitting percentage in the first set – the team's best single-set hitting percentage of the season – converting on 16 of their 21 attempts with just four errors. USD tallied one dig for the first set, and the Aztec offense was paced by Ashlynn Dunbar, who went a perfect 4-for-4 on her attacks. SDSU was quick to find an offensive groove in the opening game, jumping out to a 4-3 lead that the team never relinquished.
Hannah Turnlund (five kills on seven attempts) and Erin Gillcrist (four kills on four attempts) led SDSU offensively in the second set, as the Aztecs recorded another strong offensive showing with a .393 second-set hitting percentage to take a 2-0 lead after a 25-19 win. The Aztecs gained a comfortable advantage midway through the set, using a 5-1 run to grow its lead from 12-9 to 17-10. USD hit just .054 for the second set, largely in thanks to a match-best six digs from Sam McGrath.
The closest set of the match came in the third, as USD used a late 5-2 run to cut SDSU's lead from 20-16 to 22-21. SDSU never let go of their late-set lead, however, as both Turnlund and Dunbar scored key points late in the set to secure a narrow 25-23 win. The Aztecs outhit USD, .310 -.100, for the third set and used four kills apiece from Deja Harris and Dunbar.
Dunbar and Turnlund led the way with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Turnlund also contributed a career-best .692 hitting percentage, while Delaney Taylor set up the offense with 34 assists. McGrath led the defensive effort with 10 digs as the Toreros' .125 hitting percentage stands as the lowest by an Aztec opponent this season. Gillcrist also recorded a strong offensive showing at an efficient clip, recording nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
NOTES
- San Diego State swept San Diego for the first time since 1999 and for the 17th time in program history (tonight was the 57th all-time meeting between the crosstown foes).
- San Diego State's .410 hitting percentage is the team's best single-match mark since posting a .428 hitting percentage against Montana on Sept. 1, 2012.
- San Diego State snapped a five-game losing streak against San Diego, earning their first win over the Toreros since 2012.
- SDSU entered tonight's match having lost 15 consecutive sets to USD.
- SDSU held USD to a .125 hitting percentage, the lowest by an Aztec opponent this season and the lowest by the Toreros this season.
- With SDSU's first-set win, the Aztecs snapped a streak of eight consecutive sets won for USD.
- San Diego State improves to 27-30 all-time against USD.
- Deja Harris entered the program's top 10 in career block points, now having 267.5 after logging five block assists and a pair of solo blocks.
UP NEXT
With San Diego State's non-conference schedule completed, the Aztecs leap back into Mountain West action this weekend, traveling to Boise State (10-5, 2-2 MW) for a Thursday night contest before finishing the weekend at Utah State (3-12, 1-3 MW) on Saturday.
Volleyball Sweeps San Diego
