SAN DIEGO – After playing eight of its last nine matches on the road, the San Diego State volleyball team returns home for a pair of Mountain West showdowns with Air Force and New Mexico this weekend on Aztec Court at Peterson Gym.
The Aztecs will engage the Falcons on Thursday, Oct. 5, beginning at 6 p.m. PT, before welcoming the Lobos to "America's Finest City" on Saturday, Oct. 7, starting at 1 p.m. PT.
In addition to live stats, both contests will be streamed live via the Mountain West Network on GoAztecs.com and on the MW app.
Thursday's encounter with New Mexico has been designated as Neon Night, and the first 250 fans in attendance will receive a free LED bracelet. In addition, SDSU will celebrate Breast Awareness Month with its Dig Pink Match on Saturday vs. Air Force, giving away free pink caps and pom-poms to the first 250 patrons.
The Aztecs split two matches during their excursion to the Front Range of the Rockies last week, dropping a hard-fought 3-1 decision (25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 23-25) at Colorado State on Sept. 28, before rebounding with a come-from-behind victory over Wyoming in four sets (21-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-16) on Sept. 30.
With its results, SDSU (7-8, 2-2 MW) finds itself in a four-way tie for fifth in the conference, one match behind co-leaders Air Force, Boise State, UNLV and Utah State.
Against the Cowgirls last Saturday, the Aztecs received double-digit kills from three players, including Taylor Underwood, who smashed a season-best and match-high 15 put-aways, while Heipua Tautua'a and Julia Haynie launched 10 non-returnables apiece, helping the Scarlet and Back emerge triumphant in Laramie for the second year in a row after suffering 10 straight defeats there from 2012-21.
Despite trailing in team blocks 16.0 to 11.0, the Aztecs maintained sizable advantages in kills (54-39) and digs (63-42), limiting the Cowgirls to a paltry .111 attack percentage, including a minus-.125 clip in the decisive fourth set.
Wyoming seemed poised to take a 2-0 lead in sets after building a 23-20 advantage in the second stanza courtesy of an SDSU attack error. However, the Aztecs flashed their resiliency, crafting an improbable 7-2 closing run, which changed the complexion of the match. Buoyed by its newfound momentum, SDSU held the Cowgirls to a combined 15 kills and a minus-.031 efficiency over the final two sets to pull away for the victory.
As of Oct. 4, middle blocker Julia Haynie ranks third in the Mountain West with a .380 hitting percentage for all matches, while Underwood is also slotted third in service aces (0.42/set).
Additionally, libero McKenna Douglas has climbed into the seventh spot this week in digs (3.48/set). The Phoenix, Arizona, native has posted double-digit digs in her last five matches, including 17 against both Colorado State and Wyoming.
Collectively, San Diego State sits among the top of half the conference in several statistical categories this week, ranking third in assists (12.08/set), fourth in kills (12.94/set) and fifth in hitting percentage (.209). In addition, the Aztecs are slotted seventh in service aces (1.52/set) and ninth in digs (12.23/set).
On the national level, SDSU ranks 84th in assists per set and 88th in kills per set as of Oct. 4. In the first RPI ratings of the year, San Diego State ranks No. 132 in the nation, one of five Mountain West teams in the top 150 along with Utah State (22), Colorado State (84), UNLV (98) and Air Force (115).
The Aztecs' total of 50 team kills at UCSD are tied for second-highest total in the conference thus far for a three-set match. Similarly, SDSU's 48 overall assists in that same contest are also tied for the second-best number for a three-set match.
Individually, Underwood's career-high five aces against both Denver and Eastern Washington are tied for the fifth-best performance in the Mountain West this season, while Fatimah Hall's 47 assists vs. Cal State Fullerton in the season opener are tied for the fifth-highest total in a four-set match.
Underwood, Douglas and Hall are the only Aztecs to play all 52 sets this season, while Tautua'a and Corf have missed just one and two sets, respectively.
SDSU is 2-4 following a victory this season. In addition, the Aztecs are 1-2 in Thursday matches and 3-3 when playing on a Saturday this year.
Picked to finish seventh in the 2023 Mountain West preseason coaches poll, Air Force (11-4, 3-1 MW) remains tied atop the conference standings despite splitting a pair of home matches last weekend. The Falcons dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Boise State (25-22, 15-25, 25-21, 29-31, 8-15) before reversing their fortunes with a five-set thriller against Utah State (25-18, 17-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13).
Air Force posted an 8-2 mark in non-conference play, featuring 3-0 marks at both the Gonzaga Invitational and Santa Clara Mission Classic last month. The Falcons are 3-2 at home this season and a combined 8-2 in road/neutral matches.
Air Force is led by middle blockers Mac Russ (.368) and Joi Harvey (.367), who rank fifth and sixth in the Mountain West and hitting percentage entering the week. In addition, Russ is tied for sixth in blocks (1.13/set), while Harvey is slotted ninth (1.08/set) in that category.
In addition, libero Jordan Suan finds herself among the conference leaders, ranking sixth in digs (3.94/set), while setter Caroline Reinkensmeyer occupies the eight position in assists (6.92/set).
Offensively, three Falcon players are averaging over two kills per set, including opposite hitter Aaryn Scires (2.43), Harvey (2.35) and outside hitter Ella Tschour (2.23).
Collectively, Air Force has held opponents to a .175 efficiency, which ranks second in the conference. In addition, the Falcons occupy the third spot in blocks (2.52/set) and the fourth position in hitting percentage (.243). However, Air Force is just eighth in kills (12.35/set) and assists (11.38) while ranking last in aces (1.17/set).
Nationally, the Falcons rank 42nd in blocks per set, 60th in opponent attack percentage and 66th in their own hitting percentage.
Along the sidelines, Air Force is led by Keith Barnett, who was elevated to head coach prior to the 2019 campaign after serving a four-year stint as an Air Force assistant, including the 2018 season as the team's associate head coach. Prior to his arrival at the Academy, Barnett was an assistant coach at West Texas A&M (2013-14) and the head coach at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (2009-12). He played collegiately at Pepperdine, where he received second-team All-American honors at setter in 2001.
Although the Falcons have captured seven of the last 13 meetings, San Diego State still holds a sizable 40-9 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1996.
The Aztecs faced Air Force just once during the 2022 campaign, pulling away for a 3-1 victory at home (25-21, 27-29, 25-16, 25-16).
SDSU maintained a sizeable advantage in kills (62-41) and digs (65-50) while owning a slight edge in team blocks (9.0 to 8.0) and service aces (8-6).
Individually, Madison Corf blasted 21 kills and hit .333 in that contest, falling one kill short of matching her career high, while Heipua Tautua'a completed a double-double after posting 12 put-aways and 11 digs.
The Aztecs received plenty of other standout performances, including Elly Schraeder (.467, 5 block assists) and Julia Haynie (.429, 4 block assists), who launched eight kills apiece, while Sarena Gonzalez dished out 20 assists.
After the two teams combined for 29 ties and 11 lead changes in the first two sets, the contest witnessed just one more deadlock the rest of the way, as SDSU seized control to put the brakes on a six-match slide at the time.
Prior to facing the Aztecs on Saturday, New Mexico will square off against UNLV in Las Vegas on Thursday night. The Lobos (10-5, 2-2 MW) are also coming off a weekend split at home against Utah State and Boise State, with both matches completed in four sets. UNM was toppled by the Aggies (25-16, 20-25, 22-25, 25-13) before rebounding with a victory over the Broncos (20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-20).
The Lobos, who were predicted to finish fourth in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll along with the Aztecs, logged an 8-3 record in non-conference play, winning two of three matches in a trio of tournaments at the UCI Invitational, Lobo Invitational and North Dakota Classic. UNM is 4-2 on its home floor this season and a combined 6-3 in road/neutral contests.
UNM has been paced by Uxue Guereca, who ranks fourth in the conference in kills (3.82/set), while fellow outside hitter Kaitlynn Biassou (2.85) and middle blocker Athina Dimitriadis (2.02) are also averaging more than two put-aways per frame.
In addition, libero Angela Crosetti (4.54 digs/set) and middle blocker Elizabeth Woods (1.34 blocks/set) are slotted second in their respective statistical categories, while setter Melissa Walden ranks fourth in assists (8.88/set). Elsewhere, Biassou is tied for ninth in service aces (0.34/set), while Guereca (3.24/set) occupies the 10th spot in digs.
As a team, the Lobos lead the league in digs (17.33/set), blocks (2.52/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.148). However, UNM is slotted sixth in the conference with its own .208 attack percentage while ranking ninth in kills (12.19/set) and assists (11.00/set).
On the national stage, New Mexico ranks seventh in digs per set, 10th in opponent hitting percentage and 40th in blocks per set.
The Lobos are under the guidance of fifth-year head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar, who arrived on the Albuquerque campus after spending the previous three seasons at Arkansas as associate head coach. Newman-Gonchar has also had stints as an assistant coach at Iowa State (2013-15), Loyola Marymount (2010-12), as well as UC San Diego with both the men's and women's teams (2007-09).
Despite dropping its last three matches to New Mexico, San Diego State still leads the all-time series against New Mexico 44-24 in 68 encounters since 1976.
The Aztecs lost their only meeting against the Lobos last season, falling in four sets (21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25) at Johnson Center on the UNM campus.
In that encounter, the Aztecs maintained the edge in kills (54-45), hitting percentage (.151 to .112), digs (67-63) and team blocks (13.0 to 10.0), but the Lobos benefited from nine SDSU service errors and employed timely runs in their three victorious sets to escape with the win.
Among Aztec returners, Mikela Labno led the Scarlet and Black with 12 kills, while Julia Haynie launched 10 non-returnables of her own, hitting a career-best .769 (min 7 kills) on 13 attempts without an error. Haynie also flashed her prowess at the net with a season-high seven block assists.
In the decisive fourth set, the teams combined for 10 ties and six lead changes. The Aztecs held their last lead at 14-13 following a Lobo attack error. However, UNM seized control with a timely 12-7 run to finish off the match.
Following Saturday's clash with New Mexico, San Diego State hits the road for two MW matches next week, traveling to Fresno State (Oct. 12) and Nevada (Oct. 14).
Aztecs to Host Air Force, New Mexico This Week
