Last Saturday night, in with a 3-0 victory (30-26, 30-22, 30-23)over New Mexico, the San Diego State women’s volleyball team clinchedthe No. 4 seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament scheduledlater this month.

With only two games left to play in the season, the Aztecs have athree-game lead over fifth-ranked UNLV.

The win is the fourth-straight in a series of home stretch winsattempting to put SDSU in the best position possible for the MWCTournament and to give the team momentum heading in.

Senior Megan Schauermann stood out on offense throughout thenight, laying down 13 kills with a .476 hitting percentage.Consistent offensive threat Aspen McPartland contributed seven killsand a .309 hitting percentage. On defense, Schauermann and McPartlandcame up with five and seven blocks, respectively.

The Lobos (4-22, 1-11) are dwelling in the cellar of the MWC, andfailed to get a second conference win in their last home game of theseason. New Mexico star senior Anna Reines finished her finalAlbuquerque match with an impressive 13 kills and 15 points, but theLobos were out-blocked and overwhelmed. In the second match, NewMexico was held to a .082 team hitting percentage.

Despite the standings, SDSU didn’t underestimate the strugglingLobos and played hard to clinch the No. 4 status in the MWC. TheAztecs can still tie for third with BYU if they win their final twomatches. Now that the team has locked down the fourth seed in the MWCTournament, it can focus on its attempt to finish third when it comeshome to play Utah and BYU at 7:00 p.m Friday and Saturday night. inthe Peterson Gym.