With defeat staring the San Diego State women’s volleyball team inthe face Wednesday night against No. 18 USD, head coach Mark Warnerknew something emphatic had to be done, or at least said.
He took his team into the locker room of Jenny Craig Pavilionfacing a 2-0 deficit and told them exactly what was on his mind.
“In between games two and three I told them we weren’t gettingdown and dirty,” Warner said. “I told them we had to roll around inthe mud.”
Senior Aspen McPartland described the locker room meeting slightlydifferently: “We basically got yelled at for about five minutes.”
However the message was relayed, Warner’s words proved to beinspiring as the Aztecs (15-11) pulled it together down the stretchto complete a stunning upset and its biggest victory of the season3-2 (23-30, 23-30, 30-24, 30-25, 15-9). It was USD’s (17-7) firsthome loss this year, and with the win, SDSU avenged a sweep earlierin the season at Peterson Gym.
“One of the best feelings as a player is to have your back againstthe wall, battle all the way back and win,” Warner said. “Any time wecan beat our crosstown rivals, we’ll take it, especially in theirplace.”
In games one and two, the Aztecs were simply outplayed in allphases, while the Toreros limited their errors and came out firing.In game one, USD jumped out to an 11-3 lead. SDSU managed to pull itto 15-12, but the Toreros turned it up a notch to eventually put theAztecs away.
Game two saw the Aztecs fall behind again early, 5-0, but theyfought back to pull within a point, 10-9. However, the Toreros scored10 of the next 11 points to widen their lead 20-10, and they neverlooked back. SDSU was held to a dismal .029 hitting percentage ingame two.
“I don’t think we came out prepared to win, and they dugeverything we hit in those first two games,” Warner said.
But the tide changed after the locker room meeting as SDSU cameout and established a rhythm on offense. But the story of the gamewas the stout defense by the Aztecs – particularly the battle at thenet. After having only four blocks in the first two games, SDSU had16 in the last three, outblocking the Toreros 20-5 for the match.
Senior Megan Schauermann, the nation’s 10th-ranked blocker, ledthe team with a career-high 13 blocks.
“To block like that just puts fear in a team, and it caused otherparts of their game to break down,” Warner said. “Especially in gamefive, the blocking won it for us.”
The Aztec defense rose to the occasion in the final frames,holding USD to a .068 hitting percentage in game three, .209 in gamefour and
-.056 in game five.
Offensively, senior Melissa Cansdale picked the right time to haveher best game of the season. She finished with a season-high 11kills, along with seven blocks, and led the team with a .348 hittingpercentage. McPartland complemented this by leading all Aztecs inkills with 13.
Especially in the final games, Kara Moriarty and Robyn Greggstepped up and had some key digs that saved scoring opportunities forSDSU. The duo finished with 13 and 12, respectively.
“Knowing that we can come back from being down 2-0 against a verygood team and win in five tells us that we can match up and beatanybody,” Schauermann said. “This is a helpful win for our attitudesfor the next conference weekend and the tournament.”
The Aztecs’ road trip continues as they will play against AirForce at 6 p.m. PST tomorrow in Colorado Springs.
