Aztecs Prep For MW Openers at Air Force, New Mexico

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State opens its 26th season of Mountain West competition this weekend when it visits Air Force and New Mexico. The Aztecs will battle the Falcons on Thursday, Sept. 26, starting at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT, before facing the Lobos on Saturday, Sept. 28, beginning at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT.

Along with live stats, both matches will air live on the Mountain West Network with links available on GoAztecs.com. Fans can also catch the live action on their smartphones or TVs by downloading the MW app.

SDSU has compiled a 192-216 record against MW competition in the regular season since the league’s inception in 1999. However, The Aztecs are 274-210 in program history against teams in the current conference alignment thanks in part to renewed rivalries with Fresno State and San José State.

San Diego State is 12-13 all-time in Mountain West openers after dropping a tough five-set decision to UNLV on the road last season.

The Aztecs will play 18 conference matches, including home-and-away contests against eight league rivals while facing Boise State and UNLV just once.

QUICK HITS
> San Diego State defeated Gonzaga and Eastern Washington in a pair of five-set nail-biters at the Gonzaga Invitational, Sept. 20-21, in Spokane, Washington. With their victories, the Aztecs improve to 8-2 after 10 matches for the first time since 2007.

> Following the event, Shea Rubright, Taylor Underwood and Jasmine Davis were named to the all-tournament team.

> Not to be outdone, Gianna Bender garnered Mountain West Freshman of the Week accolades, giving SDSU its first conference weekly award winner of the season.

> In addition, setter Sarena Gonzalez finished with a career-high 60 assists against EWU last Saturday, marking the Aztecs’ highest individual output in that statistic since Gabi Peoples dished out 62 helpers in a home victory over Boise State on Oct. 19, 2017.

> For the season, Rubright owns a league-leading .500 hitting percentage, which ranks fourth in the nation as of Sept. 25.

> San Diego State has posted more kills than the opposition in all 10 matches this year and has logged a greater hitting percentage on nine occasions. In 2023, the Aztecs recorded a higher efficiency in 11 matches for the entire season, finishing with an 8-3 ledger in that category.

SERIES RECORD VS. AIR FORCE
> San Diego State holds a sizable 40-11 advantage over Air Force in the all-time series dating back to 1996. However, Falcons have captured nine of the last 15 encounters, including a season sweep during the 2023 campaign. After dropping a hard-fought decision in five sets at Peterson Gym, the Aztecs were dealt a 3-0 whitewash at the Academy.

> In that home clash with Air Force, Taylor Underwood hit .481 and blasted a career-high 31 kills, which marked the third-highest figure in the Mountain West during the 2023 campaign. Additionally, the SDSU opposite hitter established a school record for put-aways in the rally scoring era (since 2001) and logged the highest kill total by an SDSU player since Martina Vitkova-Engels (37) and Carrie Mapes (33) combined for 70 non-returnables in the Aztecs’ five-set victory over Wyoming in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament during the sideout era on Nov. 25, 1997.

SERIES RECORD VS. NEW MEXICO
> Despite falling short against the Lobos in its last five meetings, San Diego State still leads the all-time series 45-25 dating back to 1976.

> The Aztecs sport a 24-9 record against New Mexico in San Diego, a 16-16 mark in Albuquerque and a 5-0 ledger on a neutral court.

> SDSU will be looking to snap a three-match slide against the Lobos in the Duke City after dropping a four-set decision at Johnson Center in 2023 (25-19, 21-25, 26-28, 16-25).

> In that match, the Aztecs maintained a 54-49 advantage in kills, but the Lobos held the edge in team blocks (12.0 to 8.0) and aces (7-2), overcoming nine service errors as well.> After posting a .256 efficiency in the opening set with 14 kills against just four errors in 39 attempts, SDSU hit just .081 for the remainder of the contest, including a minus-.032 clip in the fourth stanza when it committed nine miscues against eight kills in 31 swings. Conversely, UNM logged a .296 hitting percentage in the final set with 12 put-aways against four errors in 27 attempts to close out the match.

SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
> Entering the weekend, Shea Rubright leads the Mountain West with a .500 hitting percentage, which ranks fourth in the nation as of Sept. 25. The Aztec middle blocker is also slotted seventh in the league in blocks (1.10/set) .

> Additionally, Taylor Underwood tops the squad with 3.27 kills and 3.73 points per set, both of which rank seventh in the conference.

> Elsewhere, the setting trio of Sarena Gonzalez (6.76/set), Fatimah Hall (5.83/set) and Andrea Campos (5.41/set) find themselves among the MW leaders in assists, occupying th seventh, eighth and 10th spots, respectively.

> Gonzalez has logged the league’s highest assist total in a single match this season, dishing out 60 helpers against Eastern Washington.

> The Aztecs boast three of the top 10 hitting performances in the Mountain West thus far, including Talea Mitchell’s second-best .696 clip vs. Seattle, while Rubright’s two percentages from the SDSU Invitational (.667 vs. Tulane) and (.640 vs. Portland State) rank fourth (tie) and seventh, respectively.

> Three Aztecs share the fourth spot in the conference with four services aces in a match, including Rubright (vs. Seattle), Jasmine Davis (vs. UC Riverside) and Keira Herron (at Gonzaga). Rubright also finished with a season-high eight blocks assists against UCR, which is tied for eighth.

> Elsewhere, Mitchell’s 16 kills against Seattle represents the sixth-best total for a three-set match in the MW this season, while Bender’s 19 digs against DePaul mark the 10th-best total for a four-set contest.

> As a team, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West in hitting percentage (.283) and assists (13.10/set) while ranking second in kills (13.85/set) and service aces (1.63/set). On the national level, SDSU is slotted 19th in assists, 21st in hitting percentage and 25th in kills.

> San Diego State’s 68 kills against CSUN is tied for the third-highest team performance in the MW thus far, while three of its best attack percentages rank among the league’s top 10, including .366 vs. Seattle (6th), .352 vs. CBU (8th) and .348 against Portland State (10th).

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
> Picked to finish 10th in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, Air Force has dropped 10 straight after a season-opening whitewash of Fordham at the Falcons’ own Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic on Aug. 30. Air Force has played just three home matches thus far, posting a 1-2 mark to go with a winless 0-8 ledger in road/neutral contests. Last year, the Falcons compiled a  17-12 overall record, tying for seventh with a 9-9 mark in conference. The Falcons are led by senior outside hitter Ella Tschuor, who is averaging 2.31 kills per set, followed by junior Ashley Bible (1.91/set) and senior Mekayla Dedo (1.78/set). Elsewhere, sophomore Jordan Suan ranks fourth in Mountain West with 3.97 digs per set, while freshman Mia Loyd (4.83 assists/set) and  junior Greta Hans (3.50 assists) have split the setting responsibilities. At the net, Tschuor and Bible top the squad with 14.0 blocks apiece, followed closely by freshman Lainie Stapleton (12), who has missed the last two matches. Collectively, Air Force ranks seventh in the conference with 13.57 digs per set, but occupies the basement in most statistical categories, including opponent hitting percentage (.254). The Falcons are guided by first-year head coach Macey Donathon, who previously served as an assistant coach at Arkansas (2019-22), Arizona State (2017-18) and Liberty (2016). The former Macey Gardner played collegiately at Arizona State, where she finished as the program’s all-time leader with 1,882 kills, which ranks 18th in Pac-12 conference history.

> New Mexico is coming off a two-match sweep against intrastate rival New Mexico State, posting a four-set triumph at home on Sept. 17, before recording a three-set whitewash on the road two days later. For the season, the Lobos have recorded a 3-1 mark at home and a combined 4-2 ledger in road/neutral contests. Last month, UNM was pegged for an eighth-place finish behind the Aztecs in the MW preseason coaches poll. The Aztecs and Lobos have faced one common opponent in their respective non-conference schedules, as UNM captured a 3-1 victory over Tulane in its season opener on Aug. 30. However, SDSU was not as fortunate in its encounter with the Green Wave at the San Diego State Invitational, dropping a four-set decision on Sept. 7. The Lobos are led by VCU transfer Kialah Jefferson, who is slotted 10th in the Mountain West this week with 3.00 kills per set, while  junior Lauryn Payne (2.97) and graduate student Jada Bouyer (2.38) are averaging over two put-aways per frame.   Along the back row, Temple transfer Falanika Danielson, the reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week, enters the week ranked third in the conference with 4.13 digs per set, while native Norwegian Liepa Lavickyte is slotted fifth with 1.21 blocks per frame. Lavickyte and Aztec libero Keira Herron were teammates at Oregon State during the 2023 campaign. Elsewhere, sophomore setter Madeleine Miller occupies the  sixth spot in the MW with 7.74 assists per set. Collectively, UNM leads the league in digs (16.46/set), which ranks 34th in the nation as of Sept. 25, while occupying the fifth position in the MW in blocks (2.23/set). Consequently, the Lobos are slotted third in the league with a .177  opponent hitting percentage. However, UNM occupies the eighth spot in kills (12.38/set) and ranks ninth in hitting percentage (.187). The Lobos are under the direction of sixth-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).

ON THE HORIZON
> Following its excursion to the Mountain time zone, San Diego State returns home for a pair of conference matches against Utah State and Nevada. The Aztecs will battle the Aggies on Thursday, Oct. 3, starting at 6 pm. PT, before entertaining the Wolf Pack on Saturday, Oct. 5, beginning at noon.