SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State volleyball team closes out the home portion of its regular-season campaign on Thursday, Nov. 10, when it plays host to UNLV in a Mountain West match, starting at 7 p.m. PT.
In addition to live stats, the Aztecs-Rebels clash will be streamed via the Mountain West Network, with links to both platforms available on GoAztecs.com.
Prior to Thursday's engagement, SDSU will celebrate the accomplishments of Kennedy Feuerborn, Noa Miller and Kayla Rivera in a special ceremony to highlight the Aztecs' Senior Night festivities.
SDSU (8-18, 6-9 MW) has won three of its last four matches, including a three-set home victory over Fresno State (25-14, 25-23, 25-18) on Monday, as the Scarlet and Black registered its second whitewash of Bulldogs this year and completed the first season sweep of its MW rivals for the first time since 2015.
Madison Corf led the Aztecs with 15 kills vs. Fresno State, hitting .667 for the night after committing just one error on 21 attempts, while Elly Schraeder matched that efficiency after launching a career-high nine put-aways against one miscue while adding four blocks, including a solo stuff.
In addition, Kayla Rivera launched nine kills of her own and served up a pair of aces to go with a solo block, while Heipua Tautua'a provided ample defensive support with a match-high nine digs.
SDSU also received an all-round performance from Noa Miller, who collected 26 assists, seven digs, three aces and pair of kills while splitting the setter chores with Sarena Gonzalez, who finished with eight helpers and five digs.
Elsewhere, Ellie Geoghegan got into the act with a collegiate-best four service aces, finishing with seven digs and six assists as well.
With the victory, SDSU finds itself alone in eighth place in the conference standings one-half match behind Boise State, Wyoming and Nevada, all of which are tied for fifth at 6-8, as the top six teams qualify for the Mountain West tournament later this month.
Entering Thursday's match, Corf leads the Aztecs with 235 kills and 2.64 put-aways per set, just ahead of Rivera (234 overall, 2.41/set), while Heipua Tautua'a (2.27/set, 204 overall) and Mikela Labno (2.23/set, 196 overall) are also averaging over two kills per set.
Not to be outdone, Julia Haynie occupies the second spot in the league with a .367 hitting percentage, while Elly Schraeder is slotted seventh with 1.08 blocks per set. Elsewhere, Ellie Geoghegan ranks ninth in the MW with 3.15 digs per frame.
SDSU has won four of its last six matches, receiving increased production from its regulars, including Corf (3.17) and Rivera (3.00), who are averaging three kills per set or more in that span, with the latter averaging more than one block per frame (1.09) alongside Schraeder (1.48).
In addition, Tautua'a (2.57 kills/set; 2.30 digs/set) has displayed her versatility in that stretch, averaging over two kills and two digs per set, while Geoghegan (3.91 digs/set) has averaged more digs per frame than her season clip.
Collectively, the Aztecs have posted a .241 hitting percentage in their past six matches, over 50 points better than their season efficiency of .190 while recording higher averages than their season pace in kills (13.74/set vs. 12.54/set), blocks (2.30/set vs. 1.90/set), service aces (1.87/set vs. 1.39/set) and digs (12.26/set vs. 11.86/set).
Through 15 MW matches, San Diego State ranks fifth in the conference in kills (12.98/set), assists (11.98/set) and service aces (1.50/set), while occupying the sixth spot in hitting percentage (.205).
All eight of the Aztecs' victories have been recorded with the Scarlet and Black maintaining the statistical advantage in kills and hitting percentage. SDSU is also 4-0 on the year when leading after two sets.
After dropping their MW opener at Colorado State on Sept. 22, UNLV (22-3, 13-1 MW), has won 12 straight conference matches, including a pair of home sweeps vs. Air Force (25-17, 25-16, 25-23) and New Mexico (25-15, 25-21, 25-18) last week.
With the decisions, the Rebels raised their record to 9-1 on their home floor this season. Additionally, the Rebels are a combined 13-2 in road/neutral matches.
Individually, senior setter Jhenna Gabriel leads the conference for all matches with 10.58 assists per set, which ranks 34th in the country as of Nov. 8, while junior outside hitter Isabel Martin (3.88/set) and junior right-side hitter Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos (3.67) are slotted second and fifth in the league in kills, respectively. Martin is the two-time reigning MW Offensive Player of the Week.
Three UNLV middle blockers also find themselves among the conference leaders in hitting percentage this week, including junior Jordyn Freeman (6th, .3372), senior Ellease Crumpton (7th, .3370) and sophomore Dakota Quinlan (9th, .330).
Elsewhere, freshman libero Maya Sands occupies the fourth spot in the MW with 3.73 digs per set, while Freeman ranks 11th in blocks (0.95/set).
As a team, UNLV is slotted second in the league in several categories, including kills (13.80/set), assists (12.82/set), hitting percentage (.250) and opponent hitting percentage (.182). On the national stage, the Rebels occupy the 34th position in both kills and assists as of Nov. 8, while ranking 52nd in hitting percentage.
The Rebels are led by Dawn Sullivan, who is in her fifth season as head coach after spending 13 years as an assistant at Iowa State, including the last six as associate coach. Last season, the Kansas State alumna directed the Rebels to a 28-9 overall record, culminating in a postseason title at the National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC).
San Diego State leads the all-time series against UNLV 29-26 dating back to 1985, including an 18-6 record on The Mesa. However, the Aztecs have dropped six of eight encounters against the Rebels, including a four-set decision (15-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-22) in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.
Although SDSU trailed in several statistical categories, the Scarlet and Black nearly extended the match to a fifth set until UNLV erased a 20-17 deficit in the fourth frame with an 8-2 closing run to dash any comeback hopes and escape with the victory.
Individually, the Aztecs were led by Madison Corf's 15 kills, while Kayla Rivera (.467) and Julia Haynie (.429) powered down eight shots apiece. In addition, Rivera (1 solo) and Elly Schraeder (2 solos) finished with four blocks each, while Sarena Gonzalez (15 assists) and Noa Miller (14 assists) shared the setter duties.
Collectively, the Rebels out-hit the SDSU .331 to .222, maintaining the upper hand in kills (56-42) and team blocks (13.0 to 9.0) while overcoming 15 service errors to help key the win.
Similarly, the Aztecs were plagued by their own serving woes, as 10 miscues offset any momentum generated by six aces. Still, SDSU was in prime position to send the match to a fifth set.
Following Thursday's encounter, SDSU wraps up its regular season slate with a pair of road matches next week, traveling to Nevada on Thursday, Nov. 17, before heading over to the Bay Area to face San José State on Saturday, Nov. 19.
Aztecs Set for Senior Night Clash vs. UNLV
