Aztecs Set for 2021 Home Debut vs. Fresno State

SAN DIEGO –  The San Diego State volleyball team opens the home portion of its 2021 spring schedule this weekend when it plays host to Fresno State for two matches on consecutive days, Feb. 12-13, at Aztec Court in Peterson Gym.

Friday's clash is set to get underway at 5 p.m. PT and will be streamed live via the Mountain West Network on GoAztecs.com. Meanwhile, Saturday's contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start and will feature a live stream on a non-MWN platform, with a link also available on GoAztecs.com.

At this time, spectators will not be allowed to attend matches this spring inside Peterson Gym due to health and safety protocols.
 
QUICK HITS
> SDSU will be looking for its first victory of the season after dropping a pair of matches last weekend at UNLV, suffering a 3-0 defeat in the opener (22-25, 21-25, 10-25) on Feb. 4, before experiencing 3-1 setback the following night (25-19, 18-25, 19-25, 15-25).
> With an uneven 11 schools sponsoring volleyball in the Mountain West, the Bulldogs were lone team to remain idle during the conference opening weekend. Fresno State last played on Nov. 23, 2019, posting a 3-0 sweep at Utah State.
> San Diego State is under the direction of first-year head coach Brent Hilliard, who arrived on The Mesa in January 2020 after a successful 19-year tenure as an assistant at the University of San Diego, where he served as the Toreros' associate head coach from 2007-19.
> Hilliard hired the legendary Steve Timmons to his staff as an assistant coach. Timmons was the first American male to win three Olympic medals in indoor volleyball, leading the U.S. national team to gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Games, as well as a bronze in 1992.
 
SERIES RECORD VS. FRESNO STATE
> Since the first varsity meeting between the two sides back in 1980, the Aztecs lead the all-time series against the Bulldogs 32-14.
> The Aztecs are 17-4 against Fresno State in San Diego all-time, including a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 27-25, 25-13) in the last encounter on Nov. 12, 2019. That match was contested at San Diego City College due to a power outage that affected the SDSU campus and surrounding areas, while star outside hitter Hannah Turnlund, who has since graduated, sat out with an injury.
> Despite the adversity, the Aztecs rose to the occasion, as Victoria O'Sullivan blasted 15 kills and hit .423 to help fuel the victory.
> Seeing her first extended action of the year, true freshman Nya Blair came off the bench and launched seven non-returnables of her own, while Andrea Walker finished with five kills and four block assists.
> As a team, SDSU equaled their highest collective hitting percentage of the year at .337 and benefited from 22 attack errors, as Fresno State finished with just a .109 clip.
> The Aztecs also played solid defense for the most part, maintaining a hefty 40-25 advantage in digs, as well as a 9-6 edge in team blocks.
> Earlier in the season, SDSU experienced the opposite fate with a three-set loss (24-26, 22-25, 19-25) at Save Mart Center in Fresno.
> Playing their third road match in a five-day span, the Aztecs knocked down almost as many kills as the Bulldogs (46-44) and maintained a sizable advantage in digs (43-29). However, SDSU was plagued by eight more attack errors (18-9) and finished with far fewer team blocks (9.5-2.0).
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
> Idle during the first week of spring matches, Fresno State, posted a 14-16 overall record and a 7-11 mark in the Mountain West during the 2019 fall campaign, tying Nevada for sixth place in the conference race one match behind fifth-place San Diego State. The Bulldogs were picked sixth in the MW preseason coaches poll, garnering 48 points, well behind the Aztecs, who received 70 points and one first-place vote. Fresno State returns four starters and its libero from last year's squad, including senior Desiree Sukhov, an all conference selection who was named the league's Newcomer of the Year in the fall of 2019 after transferring from CSU Bakersfield. An outside hitter, Sukhov led the MW last season with 3.95 kills per set, which was good for 53rd in the country, while ranking second in the conference and 45th nationally with 4.57 points per set. She also occupied the second spot on the team with 2.52 digs per set and racked up 20 double-doubles (kills-digs). In addition, the Bulldogs welcome back senior libero Reagan Leonard, another all-conference selection from a year ago who ranked second in the conference with 4.47 digs per set, finishing 92nd nationally in that category, to go with 87 assists and 18 service aces overall. Also back in the mix are senior outside hitter Amilya Thompson, who occupied the second spot on the team in 2019 with 2.72 kills per set, and sophomore middle blocker Grace Doyle (1.38 kills/set), who ranked seventh in the MW with 32 service aces and 12th with 0.91 blocks per set. Collectively, Fresno State was second in the conference with 190 service aces last year, which ranked 32nd in the country, and wound up fifth in the MW with 14.12 digs per set.  However,   The Bulldogs are under the direction of third-year head coach Jonathan Winder, who was a four-time All-American and the 2007 national player of the year for the men's team at Pepperdine, where he led the Waves to the NCAA finals as a senior in 2008.

WEEKLY WRAP
> Playing its first intercollegiate match in over 14 months, San Diego State dropped a three-set decision on the road to UNLV (22-25, 21-25, 10-25) in the 2021 spring opener for both teams on Feb. 4.
> The Rebels out-hit the Aztecs .310 to .147, maintaining a 44-30 advantage in kills and a 44-34 edge in digs to spoil the debut of first-year SDSU head coach Brent Hilliard.
> Victoria O'Sullivan paced the Scarlet and Black with 11 kills, hitting .300 for the night on 30 attempts with just two errors, while Heipua Tautua'a launched a six non-returnables of her own to go with a team-high 10 digs.
> In addition, SDSU received four kills apiece from Erin Gillcrist (3 blocks) and Kennedy Feuerborn (6 assists), while Ashley Vanderpan handed out 11 assists in her first Aztec appearance.
> The Aztecs were unable to maintain a hot start the next night vs. UNLV, falling in four sets  (25-19, 18-25, 19-25, 15-25).
> The Aztecs outhit the Rebels .452 to .242 in the opening frame, knocking down 15 kills with just one error in 31 attempts. However, SDSU stumbled to a .163 clip the rest of way, while UNLV posted a .296 attack percentage during that span, including a .361 pace in the final set.
> In all, the Rebels served up 12 aces and maintained the advantage in kills (55-47) and total blocks (7.0-3.0) to help fuel their victory. Conversely, the Aztecs held a slight edge in digs (58-55) but were plagued by eight errant serves.
> Individually, SDSU was paced by Victoria O'Sullivan, who launched 13 kills and hit .333 for the match, committing just two errors in 33 swings, while Andrea Walker (.316) blasted nine put-aways of her own and contributed two block assists.
 > The Aztec cause was also aided by Erin Gillcrist, who totaled eight kills and a service ace, while Kennedy Feuerborn displayed her versatility with six kills, 27 assists and a solo block. 
> Not to be outdone, Maddie Lenn anchored the back row with a career-high 18 digs, while Lauren Lee reached double digits as well with 13 scoops of her own.
 
NOTHIN' LIKE HOME COOKIN'
> Since the beginning of the 2009 campaign, the Aztecs have amassed a 104-51 (.650) record at home, highlighted by a 14-0 mark during the 2012 season when SDSU captured the Mountain West championship.
 
O'SULLIVAN AMONG MW LEADERS
> Entering this weekend, Victoria O'Sullivan ranks ninth in the Mountain West with an average of 3.43 kills per set (24 overall)
> The Aztec junior was the lone SDSU player to record double-digit kills in both matches at UNLV, finishing with a .317 hitting percentage for the weekend after launching team-highs of 13 and 11 put-aways, respectively.
> Since the beginning of the 2019 campaign, O'Sullivan has notched double-digit kills in 23 of her last 31 starts.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
> With the loss of 2019 all-Mountain West honoree Camryn Machado to a season-ending knee injury, the Aztecs utilized two setters for their first two matches at UNLV, Kennedy Feuerborn and Ashley Vanderpan.
> A prep star in her home state of Kansas, Feuerborn appeared in all seven sets vs. the Rebels, racking up 33 assists (4.71/set), 10 kills (1.43/set) and four digs while hitting at a team-high .333 clip.
>  Vanderpan, who was inactive the last two years at Syracuse and SDSU, respectively, finally saw her first collegiate action last weekend, totaling 19 assists (3.80/set), three digs, two kills and a block assist in five sets played.