Aztecs Set for Home Exhibition vs. UC San Diego

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State volleyball team opens its 2024 campaign on Saturday when it plays host to crosstown adversary UC San Diego in an exhibition match, starting at 5 p.m. on Aztec Court at Peterson Gym. Admission is free.

SDSU returns 11 letterwinners from last year’s squad, led by the junior trio of Taylor Underwood, Madison Corf and McKenna Douglas.

A 2023 transfer from DePaul, Underwood made an immediate impact in her first year on The Mesa, earning first-team all-Mountain West honors after finishing sixth in the league with 3.38 kills and 3.88 points per set against conference foes during the regular season. The Norco, California, native amassed double-digit kill totals in 16 of 18 MW matches and led the Aztecs with 20 service aces (0.28/set) vs. MW opponents.

For her efforts, Underwood also landed on the preseason all-Mountain West team, as selected by the league’s 11 head coaches.

After receiving all-MW honorable mention as a freshman, Corf was slowed by an ankle injury last season, missing five matches after making 16 consecutive starts to begin the year. Still, the Aztec outside hitter ranked second on the team with 213 kills and 2.57 kills per set while occupying the fourth spot with 34 total blocks.

Meanwhile, Douglas returns to anchor SDSU’s back row after finishing third in the MW with 3.83 digs per set in conference matches. The Aztec libero was also slotted fifth in the league with 3.72 digs per set for all 29 matches (398 overall) and ranked third on the squad with 66 setting assists while serving up 17 aces.

With head coach Brent Hilliard beginning his fifth season at the controls, San Diego State will benefit from the addition of six talented newcomers, including Division I transfers Jasmine Davis (Connecticut), Shea Rubright (Washington State), Andrea Campos (Villanova) and Keira Herron (Oregon State). Also featured in that group are former prep stars Gianna Bender and Talea Mitchell.

An outside hitter, Davis enjoyed four productive seasons at UConn, where she posted 897 kills (2.62/set), 830 digs (2.43/set), 151.0 blocks (0.40/set) and 91 service aces (0.20/set) while completing 22 double-doubles (kills-digs).

As a junior in 2021, Davis enjoyed her finest campaign with the Huskies, logging career highs of 337 kills (2.74/set), 305 digs (2.48/set) and 68.0 blocks to lift the Huskies to a 24-11 overall record and a Final Four appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

A middle blocker, Rubright brings a wealth of experience with her to The Mesa after competing for nationally ranked programs at Minnesota (2019-21) and Washington State (2022-23).

Meanwhile, Campos arrives on The Mesa to bolster the Aztecs’ setting corps after starting 58 of 79 matches at Villanova from 2020-23. The Pacific Palisades native finished her East Coast tenure with the ninth-best assist total in program history, dishing out 2,103 helpers to go with 497 digs and 70 service aces.

During 2023 campaign, Campos started all 31 matches, ranking second in the Big East with a team-high 1,161 assists (9.84/set), which was slotted 47th nationally. She also occupied the third position on the squad in service aces (37, 0.31/set) while ranking fourth in digs (241, 2.04/set) and fifth in blocks (28, 0.24/set).

Elsewhere, defensive specialists Herron and Bender will support the Aztecs’ back-row efforts, while Mitchell provides additional depth at middle blocker.

Bender earned second-team AVCA All-America honors following her senior season after leading Michigan’s Hudsonville High to a 45-3 overall record, as the Eagles finished with a No. 1 state and No. 19 national ranking, according to MaxPreps. She also garnered all-state, all-region and all-conference accolades after racking up 635 digs (5.3/set) during the 2023 campaign.

A graduate of Millennium High School in Goodyear, Arizona, Mitchell received AVCA All-America honorable mention and all-Region 9 honors following her senior season, capped by a third consecutive state runner-up finish. She also garnered first-team all-Conference 5A accolades and was named the 5A Desert West Section co-Offensive Player of the Year after leading her squad with a .429 hitting percentage while ranking third with 244 kills.

In two seasons at Oregon State, Herron played 130 sets across 42 matches, compiling 150 digs, 20 setting assists and 15 service aces. Last year, she made 14 starts in 19 appearances, posting career highs with 113 digs (1.61/set), 14 assists and eight service aces.

A former prep star at College Station High School in her native Texas, Herron received PrepVolleyball.com High School All-America honorable mention as a senior and twice appeared on the AVCA Phenom list.

Collectively, San Diego State was pegged for a seventh-place finish in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, which was announced on Aug. 14. The Aztecs garnered 47 points, topping New Mexico (39 pts), San José State (32 pts), Air Force (25 pts) and Nevada (12 pts).

Colorado State (98 pts) finished comfortably ahead of defending regular-season champion Utah State (84 pts) for the top spot, collecting eight first-place votes compared to the Aggies’ two. In addition, Boise State (77 pts) was slotted third, followed by defending conference tournament champion Fresno State (71 pts) and UNLV (65 pts), which received the remaining first-place vote, while Wyoming (56 pts) was sixth.

Aztec fans will recognize a pair of familiar faces when it renews acquaintances with the Tritons on Saturday. Former longtime SDSU assistant Melanie Greene has taken over the reins of the UCSD squad as the seventh head coach in program history. Over the summer, Greene also completed her staff with the hiring of former Aztec volleyball operations director Kara Barkdoll Coy as an assistant coach.

The Tritons were picked to finish fifth in the Big West preseason coaches poll, trailing Cal Poly, Hawai’i, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Individually, senior outside hitter Ava McInnes was named to the preseason all-conference team.

A three-time all-Big West honoree, including first-team accolades in 2023, McInnes led ranked second in the league with 3.69 kills per set (373) and was slotted 16th with a .253 hitting percentage.

Additionally, UCSD returns a pair of all-Big West honorable mention recipients in middle blockers Emily McDaniel and Jasmine Saran. McDaniel topped the conference last season with 1.34 blocks per set and occupied the 12th spot with a .271 efficiency, while Saran ranked fifth with a .306 clip and seventh with 1.06 blocks per set.

The Tritons finished with a 17-13 overall record in 2023 and tied for fifth in the Big West with a 9-9 mark against conference opponents. The Aztecs posted a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) at the Tritons’ home tournament last year to raise their record to 15-0 in the all-time series dating back to 1977.

In that match, SDSU logged a season-high .311 hitting percentage and maintained a sizable 50-31 advantage in kills. Despite trailing in team blocks (6.0 to 5.0), the Scarlet and Black also owned the statistical edge in digs (31-28) and served up three aces to help fuel the victory.

Individually, Madison Corf posted her best efficiency of the year as well, hitting at a .565 clip with a match-high 14 kills against one error in 23 attempts, while Mikela Labno added eight put-aways of her own.

San Diego State opens its regular-season slate next weekend when it competes at the Idaho State Tournament, Aug. 30-Sept. 1, in Pocatello, Idaho. The Scarlet and Black will battle in the host Bengals, CSUN and Seattle on successive days.

Season tickets for SDSU’s home schedule are on sale and may be purchased HERE.