San Diego State women’s volleyball lost to the New Mexico Lobos 3-1 on Saturday, Oct. 7, with set scores of 19-25, 25-17, 25-20 and 25-9.
The Aztecs opened the match with recognition to Breast Cancer Awareness month. Free SDSU pink hats and pom poms were given to attendees and the players showed support by wearing pink accessories in their hair.
Aztecs (7-10, 2-4 Mountain West) dominated the first set against the Lobos (12-5, 4-2). However, at the start of the second set, the Aztecs started off cold and the Lobos took advantage.
Head Coach Brent Hillard told the team that this was the first time he felt that a team had actually beaten them at their own game.
“I told the team briefly that this is the first match here where I feel like a team beat us,” Hillard said. “We had five players out so (New Mexico) performed like a veteran team would and we played like a young team.”
Five Aztecs were out of Saturday’s game, including middle blocker Kat Cooper and outside hitter Madison Corf, who were out due to injuries. With multiple players out, this tasked Hillard to substitute in freshman players. Hillard was happy that the freshman players got to experience playing on the court.
“We had three freshmen get a lot of experience, which is going to pay off, it’s going to be an excellent class, they just need to get that court time,” Hillard said.
Besides the Aztecs missing their veterans, outside hitter Taylor Underwood had an outstanding performance with 16 kills out of the 44 she attempted.
“We came out really strong, and given what we were given I think that we were able to work hard, but we just need to push a little more the next time,” Underwood said.
Aside from Underwood’s performance, outside hitter Heipua Tautua’a was the second-leading scorer for the Aztecs with 10 kills. Additionally, middle blocker Julia Haynie had six kills and a block.
“We’re just very supportive of each other and we make sure we know who’s blocking what, where we are moving together and just things like that,” Underwood said.
Hillard and Underwood are hoping to start strong when the Aztecs open their two-game road trip at Fresno against the Bulldogs on Thursday, Oct. 12.
“We’ve just got to come out with a little bit more competitive spirit,” Hillard said. “That’s part of having a young team as they get a little bit lost in the moment. We will be ready by the time Thursday rolls around. We should get a couple of players back and it will be good.”
“I think that we will go into practice this week, we are going to come together as a team, we are going to get to business and we are going to do what needs to be done,” Underwood said.
The Aztecs will be back home on Thursday, Oct. 19 to play against Boise State at Peterson Gym at 6 p.m.
