Nine games in a row!
San Diego State is on a tear of late, winning three straightconference matches, the latest victory coming at UNLV Saturday night15-13, 16-14 and 15-2.
“The last three matches have been huge for us,” said senioroutside hitter Monet Solberg. “We are in the second-toughestconference in the nation and when you get the wins you’re supposedto, it feels good.”
The Aztecs (9-9, 3-2 Mountain West Conference) also seem to havefound a starting line-up that is producing.
“The new line-up we are using now is really working well for us,”said senior Amy Hallquist. “We are all getting along on and off thecourt and that’s helping our performance.”
Hallquist was taken out of the starting line-up for a couple ofweeks due to performance, but since her return, she has playedoutstanding, helping the team during the winning streak.
“When Amy is on the court with us it seems we play moreaggressive,” Solberg said. “The new line-up gives us more chemistry,we are working well together. It’s good to finally have a startingline-up.”
Saturday night SDSU didn’t exactly come out on fire, but was ableto rally against the Rebels (1-13, 1-4 MWC) in the first two games tocome out on top.
In game one, the Aztecs hit .098 and had nine errors. In game two,SDSU hit .310 and recorded 24 kills.
“We struggled early in the first two games, but we came back bothtimes,” Hallquist said. “We all stepped up and got the job done.”
Gamethree was all SDSU as they pulled out a 15-2 victory. They hit .400and only committed five errors. Hallquist and Solberg lead the way,as both had double-doubles.
Hallquist lead the team in kills with 17, and had 14 digs. The5-10 senior from Phoenix, Ariz. also led the team with a .484 hittingpercentage.
Solberg had 13 kills and 11 digs to record her double-double. Alsorecording double digits in kills were Aspen McPartland with 11, andNicole Akporiaye with 10.
Melissa Wright again had a strong performance with 49 assists andno errors.
“We are starting to make the key plays at the key times,”Hallquist said. “We need to continue to do that for the remainder ofthe season.”
The Aztecs find themselves in a tie for third place in theConference and have clawed their way back to the .500 mark at 9-9.
“We now just need to cut down on our mistakes,” Solberg said.”When we cut down we will be a hard team to beat.”
MWC Standings
1. Colorado St. 2. Utah 3. BYU 4. SDSU 5. New Mexico 6. Wyoming 7. UNLV 8. Air Force Conf. 5-0 4-1 3-2 3-2 3-2 1-4 1-4 0-5 Overall 18-1 13-2 11-5 9-9 7-8 7-13 1-13 6-10
