San Diego State volleyball (13-14, 8-8 Mountain West) was defeated 3-0 by the University of Wyoming Cowboys (15-12, 11-5 MW) on Saturday afternoon at Peterson Gym. The loss adds to a tough stretch for the Aztecs, who have dropped eight of their last ten matches after starting conference play 6-0.
All hope is not lost, however. Six teams make the conference tournament, and only three have clinched spots so far. Undefeated Utah State (15-0) leads the pack with Colorado State (11-4 MW) and Wyoming, which secured its place with Saturday’s win.
The battle for the last three spots featured five teams who all entered the weekend within one game of each other: Boise State, Grand Canyon and SDSU at 8-7, followed by Air Force and San Jose State at 7-8. Saturday’s loss is a major setback, but with the standings still tight, the squad has everything to play for.
“We’re going to have an opportunity on the last weekend to sneak in,” Head coach Brent Hilliard said. “If we can win both matches, we’re probably in.”
This cold streak in San Diego was not unprovoked – the injury bug has hit the team hard all season. Coming into the match, starting freshman setter Kendall Mairs, who leads the team in assists, was out with a foot injury. Earlier in the season, standout junior middle Amber Keen went down for the year with a torn meniscus.
It felt like the worst was out of the way and the group could finally reorganize. Instead, on just the third point of the game, star senior opposite hitter Taylor Underwood stumbled hard on a spike attempt. Her injury hasn’t been announced, but she missed the rest of the game and was put on crutches.
Coming into the match, Underwood led the Aztecs in kills (354) and kills per set (3.54).
Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, SDSU’s second unit, along with healthy starters Madison Corf and Zara Stewart, tried to keep the match competitive. Ultimately, though, they made too many mistakes to hang with a healthy Wyoming team.
The Aztecs finished with 27 attacking errors, compared to just nine by the Cowboys. They also had three more service errors and six fewer aces.
Those gaps, along with a strong performance from Sarah Holcomb (11 BL, .500 Hit%), overwhelmed the SDSU defense as Wyoming took the first two sets with ease (25-14, 25-12).
“We’ve worked hard all year to make sure that we have competitive games, and that just wasn’t competitive,” Hillard said.
The lone bright spot came in the third set. Although the Cowboys completed the sweep, the Aztecs’ rotation showed flashes of continuity that can be built on in the final stretch of the season.
Freshman outside hitter Mila Gehlen had one of her best matches of the year, with most of her damage coming in the final set. She stepped up in Underwood’s absence and finished with seven kills, tied for a team high. Four of those came in set three, including an outside strike through the block that ended a minute-long rally and gave SDSU a 6-3 lead.
“After the second set, I said, ’You know what, I don’t even care anymore. I’m just gonna go up and hit every single ball,’” Gehlen said.
Despite their effort, the Aztecs were finished off by a four-point serve run from Wyoming’s Jordan Sandy, who recorded two aces and one back-row kill in the game-sealing stretch.
Looking ahead, the Aztecs have their biggest match of the season on Thursday, when they host San Jose State in Peterson Gym at 6:00 p.m. A win would be a massive step toward the playoffs, but a loss could end their season.
