Aztecs to Face Fresno State in First Round of MW Tourney
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State volleyball team begins its quest for postseason glory next week when it faces Fresno State in the first round of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship on Wednesday, Nov. 27, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fifth-seeded Aztecs will battle the No. 4 seed Bulldogs inside UNLV’s Cox Pavilion, beginning at 1 p.m. PT.
In addition to live stats, the SDSU-Fresno State clash will air live on the Mountain West Network, with links available on GoAztecs.com. Fans can also catch all the exciting action on their smartphones or TVs by downloading the MW app.
If the Aztecs defeat the Bulldogs, they will face No. 1 seed and Mountain West regular-season champion Colorado State in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. PT. Meanwhile, No. 2 seed San José State received the conference’s remaining bye and will await the winner of the Wednesday’s other first-round matchup pitting third-seeded Utah State against No. 6 seed Boise State.
For ticket information and complete tournament schedule, visit the MW Championship page.
SDSU (19-9, 11-7 MW) enters the conference tournament with some momentum after recording consecutive home sweeps of New Mexico and Air Force this week. The Aztecs’ 19 victories thus far represent their highest win-total since the 2012 squad went 23-8.
San Diego State leads the all-time series vs. Fresno State 36-20 in 56 varsity meetings dating back to 1976. The teams split two five-set matches this season, with each side prevailing on its home floor. Since the fall of 2021, five of the Aztecs’ last eight matches against the Bulldogs have gone to five sets.
In its 3-2 triumph on Nov. 7, SDSU displayed a balanced attack featuring 12 kills each by Kat Cooper and Jasmine Davis, while Taylor Underwood (11), Natalie Hughes (11) and Talea Mitchell (10) also reached double figures.
Although the two sides combined for 29 service errors, including 16 by Fresno State, San Diego State owned the statistical advantage in kills (64-49) to help key its victory. Additionally, the Aztecs limited the Bulldogs to a .188 hitting percentage while maintaining a slight edge in team blocks (13.0 to 11.0), including four assisted rejections by Mitchell and Shea Rubright, while Hughes also helped on three stops.
For the season, Rubright finds herself among the nation's leaders with a conference-best .452 hitting percentage and ranks sixth in the MW with 1.15 blocks per set, while Underwood ranks 10th in the league with a team-high 3.17 kills per frame.
On the flip side, Fresno State (16-13, 12-6 MW) split two road matches last week, edging San José State in five sets before suffering a three-set sweep at Boise State.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by the duo of Addison Haluska (3.71/set) and Ella Rud (3.66/set), who rank fifth and sixth in the MW in kills, respectively. In addition, Kasey Purry is slotted seventh with 1.13 blocks per set while occupying the eighth spot with a .338 hitting percentage.
San Diego State will be making its second appearance in the MW Championship since the tournament was revived following the fall 2021 campaign. In 2022, the sixth-seeded Aztecs upset No. 3 Colorado State on its home court in five sets before dropping a 3-1 decision to SJSU in the semifinals.