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Deja Harris logged her second double double of the season with 12 kills and 11 blocks
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
October 11, 2018 (San Diego) - The San Diego State volleyball team (6-14, 4-3 Mountain West) extended its winning streak to five with a four-set win over first-place standing New Mexico (11-8, 5-2 MW) at Peterson Gym on Thursday night.
Despite being faced with an early 7-4 deficit in the first set, the Aztecs were quick to flip the script in the early goings, utilizing a 7-0 run to take a 12-7 advantage. Victoria O’Sullivan recorded two of her four first-set kills over that run and the Aztec defense limited the Lobos to a .143 hitting percentage, forcing seven first-set Lobo attack errors. After the Aztecs claimed that 12-7 lead, the Lobos later tied the set at 21-21, but a 4-0 spurt for the Aztecs featuring another pair of kills from O’Sullivan and a kill apiece from Deja Harris and Hannah Turnlund sealed a 1-0 lead with a 25-21 win.
The Aztecs were outhit in the second set, .282 - .250, however, used three block assists from both Harris and Erin Gillcrist in the second set to claim a second-set win at 25-22. SDSU never looked back from an early 3-0 lead, but with the Lobos threatening at 20-19, the Aztecs used 3-0 run to add breathing room to its late-set lead before closing the set at 25-22 on Turnlund’s fifth kill of the match.
New Mexico leaped out to a 14-6 lead in the third set, but partially in thanks to two mid-set kills each by Harris and O’Sullivan, SDSU showed some fight and cut the Lobos lead to 23-20 after Gillcrist recorded her fourth kill of the match. Gillcrist posted another kill later in the set to make it a 24-21 game, but New Mexico cut the Aztecs lead to 2-1 after sealing the set with Lauren Twitty’s 11th kill. Harris led the Aztecs with four kills and four blocks in the third set, while Gillcrist and O’Sullivan each posted three kills.
The Aztecs recorded one of its most dominant single-set performances of the season in the fourth set, posting a .400 hitting percentage and jumping out to a convincing 23-9 advantage. With the Aztecs nearing their fifth straight win, the Lobos made the Aztecs work for its final two points by going on a 6-0 run to cut SDSU’s lead to 23-15. Despite their late-set woes, the Aztecs closed the set on back-to-back services, with O’Sullivan and Reeves recording their 15th and third kills, respectively, to end the match in four sets. In addition to SDSU’s .400 fourth-set hitting percentage, the Aztec defense held the Lobos to a .080 success rate in the match’s final game.
O’Sullivan led all players in the match with 15 kills while posting a .400 hitting percentage. Delaney Taylor and Gabi Peoples split time at the setter position, recording 26 and 20 assists, respectively, while Sam McGrath led the defense with 11 digs. Harris finished the evening with 12 kills and a match-high 11 blocks.
The Aztecs out-blocked the Lobos, 19-9, and posted a better hitting percentage at .254 in comparison to UNM’s .181.
NOTES
- SDSU’s five-match winning streak is tied for the longest since SDSU won 12 in a row from Oct. 13 – Nov. 20, 2012. SDSU also won five in a row from Oct. 19 – Oct. 31, 2017.
- Over the five-match winning streak, the Aztecs are out-blocking their opponents, 68.5 – 38. Deja Harris has 39 blocks over the team’s last five matches and is averaging 1.77 blocks per set.
- SDSU is outhitting its opponents .254 - .189 over its five-match winning streak.
- SDSU extends its home winning streak against the Lobos to eight, with the team’s last home loss against UNM coming on Oct. 31, 2009. The Aztecs are also 5-1 in their last six matches against the Lobos.
- Today’s win for SDSU snapped a four-match winning streak for New Mexico.
- Deja Harris recorded her second double double of the season and the third double double of her career (12 kills, 11 blocks).
- Deja Harris also recorded a 12-kill, 11-block performance against the Lobos nearly a year ago to the date – doing so in Albuquerque on Oct. 12, 2017.
- Today’s win was SDSU’s first of the season that came in four-set fashion.
- The Aztecs are a perfect 3-0 this season when winning the first two sets of a match and have won 40 consecutive matches when winning the first two sets.
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