By Tim MiguelSenior Staff Writer
The handful of fans who spent their weekend nights in Peterson Gymthis fall didn’t witness the most memorable of seasons in the wincolumn, but it was certainly an exciting one.
San Diego State women’s volleyball head coach Mark Warner wasprobably looking to see results similar to last season, when SDSUfinished 22-12. But while they didn’t quite add up, his Aztecs stillhad a successful season.
SDSU (18-14, 7-7) made it to the second round of the Mountain WestConference Tournament, before being ousted by the eventual tournamentchampion, Colorado State. It finished fourth in the conference in theregular season.
The highlight of the season for most of the Aztecs was theircome-from-behind victory at then No. 18 USD on Nov. 4 across town atJenny Craig Pavilion. SDSU trailed the match 2-0, but came back todefeat the Toreros 3-2.
“Winning at USD was the highlight of the season for me,” junioroutside hitter Kara Moriarty said. “We hadn’t done that in a while,and to come back from two down was really exciting.”
However, another win that should not be overlooked this seasoncame at the start of the year in September when the Aztecs knockedoff then No. 10 Arizona on the Wildcats’ home court.
Thepattern for the Aztecs this season seemed to be that they would wintwo or three very important matches, and then lose the next two orthree. The road was very rocky.
“We were inconsistent at times this season,” Moriarty said. “Butwhen we’re playing well, we’re such a good team.”
This season, senior middle blocker Aspen McPartland led her teamwith an average of 3.69 kills per game. She also had a hittingpercentage of .338 and averaged 2.13 digs per game.
“Aspen was always really consistent,” Moriarty said. “She was ourteam leader and our go-to player. She loves the game and plays withall her heart.”
Senior middle blocker Megan Schauermann also had a strong season,leading the conference in blocks and ranking high up among thenational leaders. Schauermann ended her season with an average of1.56 blocks per game. She also averaged 2.5 kills per game andfinished with a hitting percentage of .310.
“Megan was first in blocks all year. She was awesome this season,”McPartland said.
Moriarty led her squad with an average of 2.23 digs this season.Moriarty also averaged 3.07 kills per game.
“This was Kara’s first year starting and she proved that shedeserved to be there,” McPartland said.
Ledby a group of seven seniors, the Aztecs were an experienced andtalented squad this season. The other seniors on the team were setterSara Engstrom and outside hitters Melissa Cansdale, Robyn Gregg,Zlatina Anguelova and Natalie Sande.
Engstrom had just moved into the setter position this season andher teammates couldn’t have been happier with her performance.
Next season’s team will certainly be a much different one, as SDSUloses this very key group of seniors. The Aztecs will look toMoriarty to lead next year’s squad.
“I had a lot of expectations going into this season,” Moriartysaid. “I know what I need to work on for next year.”
Although SDSU didn’t quite meet its high expectations from itssuccess last season, the Aztecs still had a solid season and madetheir presence felt throughout the conference – and at times, thenation.
