The San Diego State women’s volleyball team dominated the first two sets, winning 25-21 and 25-23. However, an unexpected turnaround unraveled when the Utah State Aggies launched a comeback for a tied game 2-2, and ultimately took the victory 15 -13 in the final set.
The Aztecs played their opponents on their home court in Peterson Gym, honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month with pink ribbons.
The first set started off neck and neck and continued until the last four points were scored and won by the Scarlet and Black. The Aztecs maintained their lead over Utah State again with kills from outside hitters Campbell Hague and Talea Mitchell.
Despite holding the advantage, SDSU fell short at the start of the set as the Aztecs served but lost the first point due to defensive plays made by their opponents.
The Aggies took control, leading by six points ahead with still no score from the Aztecs. The momentum shifted for the Aggies as they maintained their grip, with only two tied scores throughout the set, finishing it out 25-27 against the Aztecs.
In the fourth set, the Aztecs quickly fell behind, losing by seven points to the Aggies with a final score of 18-25, with zero tied scores and lead changes.
“That team really started to get dialed in and played extremely well,” said head coach Brent Hilliard. “They had a pretty tough preseason and they’ve played a lot of really good teams, so we knew they were going to be a tough opponent.”
SDSU battled to change the game with a kill by outside hitter Jasmine Davis who led the Aztecs for the first time over Utah State in two sets. Both teams rallied point for point until a score of 14-11 led by the Aggies who called the last timeout of the match. The Aztecs pushed for two more points but were unable to beat their opponents to their set point, losing 15-13 in the final play.
“They had some really great plays, they got scrappier and I think we were a little frazzled,” said Davis.
The team was steered as opposite hitter Taylor Underwood dominated with 18 total kills, followed by outside hitters Jasmine Davis with 13 kills and Talea Mitchell with 11.
“I think in the last three sets we really put up a fight and we saw a lot of areas to improve in which is totally attainable for us, and we’ll start in practice tomorrow,” said Underwood.
The final score brings the Aztecs to a 9-4 marking their fourth loss of the season so far and their second defeat at their home court, while the Aggies improved to 4-10. Both teams share 1-2 in the Mountain West conference play.
The team plans to develop strategies they might implement moving forward against their opponents to bring back their wins.
“We know Nevada is going to be a scrappy team,” said Davis, “We just have to keep the energy, stay consistent and stay together, never back down from the fight,” said Davis.
The Aztecs will next face Nevada on Oct. 5 at home at the Aztec Court in Peterson Gym at noon.
