By Joel SartanSenior Staff Writer
To defeat Wyoming last Friday, all San Diego State needed was asolid team effort.
It got it.
But to defeat No. 8 Colorado State on Saturday, SDSU needed divineintervention.
It didn’t get it.
With the split, the Aztecs (13-8, 7-4 Mountain West Conference)remained in fourth place with only three conference matchesremaining.
Warner said the match against the Cowgirls would be critical insetting a tone for the remainder of the season.
“We control our own destiny,” he told the team at a practice lastweek.
The Aztecs responded, downing Wyoming in four games, 30-28, 30-22,29-31, 30-20.
Five players reached double-digits in kills as SDSU hit .290 onthe night. Rochelle Currier led the assault with 19 kills off thebench.
The high-hitting percentage came in spite of a staunch Wyomingdefense that racked up 10 team blocks and 49 digs.
SDSU equaled the dig total, led by Robyn Gregg with 11. The teamadded nine team blocks.
The Cowgirls (8-10, 3-6 MWC) were led by Rachel Lau with 17 killsand seven blocks.
“That was a big win,” said Warner.
The next night, though, the Aztecs had the unenviable task offacing CSU.
The Rams (19-0, 9-0 MWC) dismantled SDSU, winning 30-19, 30-21,30-12.
“They’re pretty damn good,” Warner said. “They were really goodthat night.”
The Aztecs barely finished with a positive attack percentage, as10 team blocks and 42 digs by CSU held SDSU to .067 offensively.
“We did pretty well in the second game,” Warner said, pointing outthe team’s .357 hitting percentage. “But they hit .500.”
For the match, the Rams hit a stellar .448.
Courtney Cox, named MWC Co-Player of the Week, had 11 kills with acareer-best four solo blocks. Angela Knopf led the team with 17kills.
Two Aztecs, Nicole Akporiaye and Aspen McPartland tied for theteam lead with seven kills each.
McPartland led SDSU with four blocks, as the team only managed sixtotal.
“Our blocking is going downhill,” Warner said.
Currier delivers
The 19-kill performance by Currier against Wyoming came on theheels of a record-setting performance last week.
Against Air Force, the junior set a career-high and a teammatch-high for the season with 24 kills.
“She pulled us out in the first game (against Wyoming), we werelosing that one,” Warner said. “(The starter) had trouble, so Ibrought her in off the bench and she did really well.”
Currier has improved her season average to 1.65 kills per game ata .357 clip.
Leaving for Las Vegas
Tonight the Aztecs take on USD at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Toreros (15-7, 6-3 West Coast Conference) fell in four sets toSDSU earlier this year. But USD has improved since the loss.
The key to a win, Warner said, will be the blocking.
“If our blocking doesn’t come around, USD is going to kick ourass,” he said.
Friday night SDSU head to Las Vegas to take on UNLV at CoxPavilion.
The Rebels (8-10, 5-6) need a win to finish in the top half of theconference.
An Aztecs win would all but lock up the No. 4 seed at the MWCTournament next month.
SDSU won the first match up of the year in four games Oct. 5 inPeterson Gym.
Last week, UNLV squeaked out a five-set win in Wyoming and took abeating against CSU.
