San Diego State volleyball (9-6) opened their first conference home stretch of the season with a 3-1 match win over the University of New Mexico (8-8). Momentum from the 4-0 road trip successfully carried over to Peterson Gym on Thursday night. 

This win maintained the Aztecs’ perfect positioning atop the Mountain West standings with a record of 5-0 in conference play, tied with Utah State.

“We have the top defensive team in the conference right now,” head coach Brent Hilliard said. “We don’t allow a lot of kills, and we still held them to a low percentage, but not as low as we could have.” 

Despite how good the defense has been — leading the Mountain West in opponent hitting percentage at .142% — New Mexico surprised the Aztecs with their level of play and aggressiveness. New Mexico started their conference play winless, dropping all four games of their first homestand of the season. 

Regardless of the loss, the Lobos played exceptionally well, catching the Aztecs’ defense off guard momentarily. 

“Honestly, they surprised us with how well they did offensively,” Hilliard said. “I’m going to give New Mexico a lot of credit because their outside hitter … she was crushing balls.” 

The first set was dominated by the Aztecs defensively as they established the blocking game early. Junior opposite hitter Natalie Hughes set the tone with her versatility, contributing a block and a kill early on to take a 4-2 lead. Freshman setter Kendall Mairs doubled that score with a pair of aces, and the Aztecs never looked back. 

They scored 10 consecutive points to win a one-sided first set 25-10. Most of those points came from the hot serving hand of freshman libero Zara Stewart, and one of the hardest hitters in the conference, senior superstar opposite hitter Taylor Underwood. 

Unfortunately, the momentum from the first set did not carry over to the second, as New Mexico kept the Aztecs in a back-and-forth battle early on. The Lobos surprised the stout Aztec defense on the offensive side of the ball as senior outside hitter Lauren Payne and freshman outside hitter Addison France racked up kills, forcing the Aztecs to call a timeout with the Lobos leading 15-12. 

The Aztecs tried to crawl their way back with an array of kills from the freshman opposite hitter Mila Gehlen to make the score 22-20, but it wasn’t enough. Great serves by sophomore outside hitter Seenane Brewer and a fantastic block and kill from redshirt freshman outside hitter  Amanda Tremeroli sealed the set win for the Lobos, 25-20. 

“I think we just need to work together a little more, a little quicker,” Underwood said. “I think there were just a couple little plays in there that needed to be made, but we’ll work on that tomorrow and get it fixed.” 

Underwood wasted no time getting her team back on track in the third set, displaying impressive power and skill with back-to-back kills to keep the score close early on at 6-4. The back-and-forth battle commenced once again until a couple of kills from Hughes and Underwood made it 13-10. 

The Lobos kept it close from that point on, keeping the score within three points or less for the rest of the set. With some amazing overall play by redshirt junior outside hitter Madison Corf, including an impressive kill, SDSU held on for the 25-22 set win. 

The fourth set was almost a replica of the third set, with another tight battle developing. Big plays from the junior outside hitter Ella Schabort and junior middle blocker Amber Keen kept the score knotted at 8-8. 

New Mexico kept the score within three until a perfect serve from freshman Bella Jones made it 16-12 Aztecs. The Lobos went on to take a brief lead until Corf had consecutive kills to tie the score once again at 19-19. With stupendous kills from Underwood and Schabort, the Aztecs sealed the set and match victory with a 25-23 win. 

Underwood’s success has been one of the many bright spots of this deep team, as she has been exceeding her preseason expectations. 

“I think it’s just confidence and not getting in my head,” Underwood said. “The game is so long that mistakes don’t really matter, it’s all about getting over the little things.” 

The senior leader now has 11 straight games with 10 or more kills, racking up 16 kills in the match. SDSU wins their fifth game straight, expanding their longest winning streak of the season. 

They will head right back into battle Saturday at 12 p.m. against UNLV (8-7) at Peterson Gym in hopes of keeping the streak alive.