Match Week Preview
San Diego State (5-14, 3-3 MW) vs. New Mexico (11-7, 5-1 MW)
Thursday, Oct. 11 | 6:00 p.m. PT | Peterson Gym | San Diego, Calif. | Mountain West Network
San Diego State (5-14, 3-3 MW) vs. UNLV (13-5, 4-2 MW)
Saturday, Oct. 13 | 6:00 p.m. PT | Peterson Gym | San Diego, Calif. | Mountain West Network
Aztec Storylines
FOUR IN A ROW: San Diego State enters the weekend having won each of its last four matches, including a trio of five-set wins in Mountain West play and a straight-set victory over San Diego, giving SDSU its first sweep of the Toreros since 1999.
Below is a statistical comparison between SDSU and its opponents over the Aztecs' four-match winning streak.
Statistic | SDSU | Opponent |
Kills | 234 | 198 |
Attack% | .255 | .191 |
Assists | 216 | 187 |
Digs | 235 | 198 |
Blocks | 46.5 | 29.0 |
Leaders for SDSU over four-match winning streak:
Kills per set: Ashlynn Dunbar, 3.29
Attack %: Deja Harris, .353
Assists per set: Delaney Taylor, 9.50
Service aces: Ashlynn Dunbar, 10
Digs per set: Loren Teter, 3.29
Blocks per set: Deja Harris, 1.56
With a pair of wins this weekend, SDSU would be in possession of its longest winning streak since 2012, when the team won 12 in a row from Oct. 13 - Nov. 20.
HARRIS NAMED MW DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Deja Harris earned her first career Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday, giving the senior her third career weekly conference award. Harris is the fifth player in league history to own both an Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week award over the course of their career and the first in SDSU history.
Harris logged 23 blocks for the week (good for 1.77 blocks per set) and brought her career block assist total to 424, moving her into third place in the SDSU record book.
SDSU Career Block Assist Leaders
1. Jennifer Miller (1989-92) - 480
2. Andrea Hannasch (2009-12) - 471
3. Deja Harris (2014 - present) - 424
*Harris is also 9th in SDSU history with 276 career block points
Although the award was defense-focused, Harris also served as SDSU's leader on the offensive side the ball, logging a team-best 41 kills with a team-high .375 attack percentage. SDSU posted team-highs in kills in both of SDSU's wins over Boise State and Utah State, recording 14 kills and 19 kills, respectively.
Harris is currently tied for fourth in the country in total blocks with 101. Entering the weekend, the Las Vegas product is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.350), ninth in kills per set (3.10), third in blocks per set (1.29), and fifth in points per set (4.07). Harris is the only player in the conference to be in the top 10 in both kills per set and hitting percentage.
ACE-LYNN DUNBAR: Ashlynn Dunbar is second in the Mountain West and tied for sixth in the country with 37 service aces this season. Even with 12 matches remaining in 2018, Dunbar's total is already higher than any Aztec individual total during the 2017 season (Deja Harris led 2017 team in service aces with 20).
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 1,002 digs this season in comparison to 954 digs by its opponents, and have four players averaging 2.0 digs per set or more, including Sam McGrath (2.65), Ashlynn Dunbar (2.44), Lauren Lee (2.23) and Loren Teter (2.0).
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST NEW MEXICO & UNLV: San Diego State is 4-1 in its last five matches against New Mexico, which enters the weekend first place in the Mountain West. SDSU has won each of its last seven home matches against the Lobos, with the team's last home loss against New Mexico coming on Oct. 31, 2009
SDSU has won three of its previous four meetings with UNLV and have won five of its last six home meetings against the Rebels.
SUCCESS AT HOME: The Aztecs are 28-18 (.604) in their last 46 matches at Peterson Gym.