SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State volleyball team played in four tightly-contested sets on Saturday night at Peterson Gym, but ultimately fell to conference foe Boise State, 22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 22-25. SDSU falls to 8-19 and 6-8 in the Mountain West this year, while BSU improves to 16-9 with an 8-6 league record.
SDSU quickly gained the early-match momentum, leaping out to an early 4-0 lead with the help of two kills by Erin Gillcrist. The remainder of the set featured eight different tie scores, including 22-22, just before the Broncos rallied for a 3-0 run to win the first, 25-22.
Boise State used an identical score in the second set to jump out to a 2-0 lead. While holding a slim 5-4 lead, the Broncos used a 5-0 run to obtain a sizeable 10-4 lead. Later, the Aztecs were able to cut Boise State's late lead to just three, forcing a BSU timeout at 21-18. Following the timeout, the Broncos recorded the next two points to gain a 23-18 lead before winning the set, 25-22.
Despite falling behind in 2-0 after the second set, Hannah Turnlund posted five kills in the game to lead the Aztec offense.
Turnlund used another five kills in the third set to compliment Deja Harris' match-best six kills, as the duo combined for 11 of SDSU's 17 kills in the game. The Aztecs recorded a .371 hitting percentage in a 25-23 third-set win and with the set tied at 15-15, the Aztecs used a 4-0 featuring three Harris kills to take a 19-15 lead before ultimately winning, 25-23.
SDSU's comeback attempt officially fell short after the fourth set, as Boise State claimed its third 25-22 win of the match in the fourth set. Gillcrists' ninth kill of the match gave SDSU a 21-20 advantage, however, the Broncos went on a 5-1 run to claim the match-clinching fourth set.
Turnlund and Harris led SDSU with 13 and 12 kills in the match, respectively, while Gabi Peoples logged 34 assists to set up the offense. Loren Teter led the defensive effort with 16 digs.
In a defense-oriented match, Boise State outhit SDSU, .184 - .168. SDSU was out-blocked, 17.5 - 9, despite Harris playing a role in a team-high eight blocks.
NOTES
- SDSU falls to 21-6 in their last 26 Mountain West matches at home.
- After starting the match with a .050 hitting percentage, SDSU rebounded for a .333 hitting percentage over the final two sets.
UP NEXT
SDSU heads out for its final road trip of the 2018 season next weekend, taking on UNLV on Thursday before ending the week at New Mexico on Saturday.