The mood was light in Peterson Gym on Saturday as San Diego State’s volleyball team grabbed a Mountain West win over Air Force (25-14, 29-31, 25-20, 25), moving to an 8-11 record on the season and a 2-4 record in conference play.
The win marked head coach Deitre Collins-Parker’s 300th career victory.
The Aztecs executed in the first set by taking care of the ball, letting the Falcons make their own mistakes.
“We really cut down our errors and seeing the team be confident and playing volleyball was fun for me,” Collins-Parker said, “We made adjustments and stayed level and played good volleyball.”
Junior middle blocker Deja Harris dominated the net in the first set both offensively and defensively.
“It felt really good just being able to stay consistent regardless of what they put down,” Harris said, “Our blocking was awesome, our defense was able to be super scrappy.”
The second set told a different story, as the smiles on the court dissipated as Air Force took the lead and forced an Aztec timeout at 7-10.
Air Force’s sophomore outside hitter Denise Ssozi broke down SDSU’s serve receive with her jump topspin serve, putting Air Force up 13-8. Through multiple hustle points the Scarlet and Black came back to take the lead 17-16. From 17-17 on, the teams went back and forth. The Aztecs had the set point but could not secure the win and ultimately fell, 29-31.
SDSU came out of the locker room after halftime looking upbeat and encouraged. The Aztecs got out to an early lead and maintained this lead throughout the match, decisively putting the ball away. After a mini Air Force run towards the end of the set, SDSU squashed the hope for a comeback and took the third set 25-20.
In the fourth and final set more intensity was present early on, with a scrappy save by sophomore outside hitter Ashlynn Dunbar landing just inside of the antenna protested heavily by the opponents. The score was still competitive at 12-10, however soon after the Aztecs went on a run and closed out the match with a 25-15 win.
“This game feels good getting a win,” Harris said. “It’s super encouraging, we’ve been going through a lot of adversity lately but this win will just uplift our spirits.”
