With the Mountain West regular season near its end, the San Diego State women’s volleyball team clinched its seat in the Mountain West Tournament for the third time in program history.
This is fifth-year head coach Brent Hilliard’s second tournament appearance with the team. Hilliard’s last appearance was in 2022 after the team beat San Jose State 3-1. The team upset Colorado State in a five-setter before the run came to an end with a loss to the Spartans.
While the team does not have an official seeding, the team is currently ranked fifth in the conference and is a game out of Utah State and Fresno State who are tied for the third seed. Either way, The Scarlet and Black can expect to face a first-round opponent to start the tournament. The news follows the team’s loss to the Wolf Pack last night 1-3.
The Aztecs struggled to generate offense as the team was held to a 0.192 hitting percentage and 44 kills. Jasmine Davis had 13 kills and was the only Aztec to reach double-digit kills. The team was without Taylor Underwood for the night following a 14-kill performance against San Jose State.
Defensively, the Aztecs struggled against the Wolf Pack trio on offense. Gabby McLaughlin stole the floor with 18 kills for Nevada. Sia Liilii and Carissa Chainey also combined for 29 kills.
The match began with both teams exchanging points. While the Wolf Pack were the first to build an advantage, SDSU challenged after taking the advantage 10-9. However, Nevada slowly created a four-point advantage late in the game 16-20. The Wolf Pack outscored the Aztecs 5-3 to end the set 19-25.
SDSU’s only set win came in a second-set shootout that generated 60 points. The Aztecs began that set down 0-4 but managed to fight their way back to make it a back-and-forth battle. It was the beginning of the end after both teams tied 25-25. Nevada was the first to strike, but SDSU responded with two points of their own to make it 27-26. The dust settled after the Aztecs scored three straights to close the set 31-29.
After tying the match 1-1, Nevada had SDSU playing catch up for the rest of the match. The Aztecs dropped the third set 19-25 despite a late effort to close an eight-point deficit. While the team kept the fourth set close, five unanswered points by the Wolf Pack gave the team a 6-point cushion late in the set. The Aztecs could not climb back from the deficit and closed the game 19-25.
The Wolf Pack was a team looking to get back at SDSU after the team was swept by the Aztecs at Peterson Gym. SDSU closes the season against the Wolk Pack 1-1 and moves to a 9-6 conference record.
SDSU is also coming off a three-game stretch against the top-ranked teams in the conference. The Aztecs were 2-1 in those games, with their only loss coming from the standing leaders, Colorado State.
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Scarlet and Black has its last road game of the season against Utah State on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. The Aggies are currently ranked ahead of the Aztecs in the conference and are one of two teams to beat the team at home.
The Aztecs will return home for the last time on Nov. 21 for a two-game series against New Mexico and Air Force. The Mountain West Tournament hosted in Las Vegas begins Nov. 27 with its first-round games.
