They were so close. So close they could taste victory.
But in the end, it was Utah that got the sweet taste of victory asit outlasted an upset-minded San Diego State women’s volleyball teamin five sets in the first round of the inaugural Mountain WestConference tournament in Provo, Utah.
“We certainly had our chances,” said SDSU coach Mark Warner. “Bothteams knew they had to win and nothing went uncontested … theintensity level was high.”
The 15-6, 5-15, 15-12, 14-16, and 8-15 loss was SDSU’s best matchof the year. Unfortunately it came against a Utes squad just asintent upon winning.
After rallying from a 12-7 deficit in the fourth game, the Aztecshad a chance, holding a two games to one lead and a 14-12 lead. ButUtah refused to go away, stalling SDSU on seven straight attemptsbefore taking over and scoring four points for the 16-14 win in thefourth game.
“We never let up … It’s amazing how much desire they had,” saidJamie Evans, who led the Aztecs with 21 kills. “We executed everyopportunity we had and we couldn’t get the ball down. They had theluck on their side.”
Usinga short serve to disrupt the Utes, the Aztecs came out on fire in thefirst game. With just two errors and 22 kills, SDSU hit a robust .455in the first game of the match. The result was an overwhelming 15-6win.
“Our serving messed them up way more than theirs did with us,”Evans said.
In the second game Utah took advantage of 13 Aztecs errors androuted SDSU, 15-5.
However, SDSU wasn’t going to fold that easy.
With an ankle injury to sophomore setter Melissa Dickson, theAztecs, behind Lisa Bostian and Co. rolled out to a 15-12 win in thethird game. In Bostian’s final match as an Aztec, she posted 64assists and 13 digs. The 64 assists moved her into seventh placeall-time in SDSU history with 1,643 assists, ahead of MichellePistone (1993-1996). Bostian did all of this in just two years ofstarting as a setter.
“I’m glad that she (Lisa) got to set the last match,” junior ErinGrady said. “She was a setter until this year and she moved tooutside hitter to help out the team.”
The fourth game saw Utah jump out to a 12-7 lead, only to have theAztecs fight back to grab a 14-12 lead. But, the Utes wouldn’t givein as they dug seven straight balls, part of 93 team digs for thematch. All in all, six Utah players reached double figures in digs.
Five SDSU players reached double figures: Amy Hallquist (20),Evans (16), Katie Magnuson (15), Bostian (13) and Jessica Allen (10).Brooke Dinardo added nine digs.
In the previous meeting between the two clubs it was the Utes’blocking that took over. This time it was the Aztecs controlling thenet. Grady led the way with seven blocks. Magnuson added six to goalong with 12 kills and Bostian and Evans added three each,respectively.
Overall, SDSU outblocked Utah 16 to 12, including six solo blocks.
“We proved to ourselves that we could do it,” Grady said. “Itmakes me want to work that much harder … I’m really determined tokick some butt next year.”
After fighting off the Aztecs time after time, the Utes took holdof the fifth game and won 15-8.
“That game took so much out of our team … It was so intense,”Evans said.
In other first-round action, No. 9 Brigham Young walked all overWyoming in three sets 15-1, 15-1, 15-11. No. 12 Colorado State alsoadvanced with a four-set win over Nevada-Las Vegas, 15-9, 3-15, 15-4,and 15-9, and New Mexico upset Air Force in five sets, 15-10, 15-1,9-15, 10-15 and 15-6.
The second round saw BYU dispense of New Mexico quickly, 15-1,15-0 and 15-9 to advance to the finals. It took CSU five sets todefeat Utah, 15-3, 10-15, 10-15, 15-13 and 17-15 and set up a rematchwith BYU.
The Rams (28-2) then did the unthinkable, upsetting the top-seededCougars, 15-8, 15-8 and 15-12 on their home court. The loss was BYU’s(26-4) first at home in 29 matches and gave CSU the championship. BYUhit just .177 in the championship and was beat at its own game, asthe Rams posted a three-game season-high 14 blocks.
