San Diego State volleyball lost to No. 13 Colorado State in three sets (25-21, 25-23, 25-23) on Nov. 9 at Peterson Gym.
But the Aztecs did not go down without a fight.
Throughout the match, there were a total of 15 ties and six lead changes. SDSU recorded only 10 errors while CSU had 18.
Collins-Parker said the key to keeping up with the Rams was forcing more pressure on their offense and focusing on playing exceptional volleyball.
“You can’t win if you’re the team giving the points away,” Collins-Parker said. “You’ve got to keep putting the ball on the other side and force them to make the errors. If you make the error, you don’t have the chance anymore. I thought we did a lot of clean volleyball today.”
Not only did SDSU need to play clean volleyball, but they also needed to keep up with Colorado State’s fast hitters.
Turnlund said the Aztecs’ defense needed to be on their toes every moment of the game.
“[Defense] is the most important part of the game,” Turnlund said. “We had to watch every move they would make because if you let them go then they are gonna smash the ball on your face.”
At the start of the third set, the Rams went on a 5-1 run forcing SDSU to call a timeout.
Senior middle blocker Tamia Reeves said during that timeout, the team’s message was to not give up without giving it their all.
“We’re not going down without a fight,” Reeves said. “I think everyone kind of realized that we are in a hole, we have been in a hole before, and we know how to get out of it so we’re just working hard to not let this game slip out of our hands.”
Reeves finished the game with six kills, a team-high five blocks, and a team-high hitting percentage of .545.
She is currently ranked first in the Mountain West Conference in hitting percentage with an average of .407 per game.
Collins-Parker said Reeves fought hard to keep her spot in the conference and not easily give away a win.
“For Tamia (Reeves), she is battling (Colorado State’s senior middle blocker Kristie Hillyer) for top in the conference on kill percentage,” Collins-Parker said. “She battled today. She made some great moves blocking.”
The Aztecs’ next conference match is next Tuesday, Nov. 12 against Fresno State at Peterson Gym.
