Coming off a 3-1 loss at Boise State on Thursday night, the San Diego State volleyball team defeated the Air Force Falcons three sets to two on Saturday at Falcon Court in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Aztecs took the first and third set (25-9, 25-22), while Air Force was victorious the second and fourth (25-21, 25-23) after eventually getting its offense going. The fifth set would be the deciding factor of the game, but ultimately went to the Aztecs with a dominating score of 15-4. SDSU won the first nine points of the set and jumped out to a 10- 3 lead, before scoring five of the next six points.
Junior libero Courtney Vaccarello scored the match’s final point with a service ace to claim the victory for the Aztecs. Junior setter Johnna Fouch continued to impress with her stat line, with 48 assists and 10 digs. The win marked Fouch’s fourth double- double of the season. Junior middle blocker Emily Harris had 10 blocks, tying her career-high from earlier this season. Junior outside hitter Raegan Shelton had a personal best team-high of 20 kills to go along with four blocks and two service aces. Senior Andrea Hannasch was close behind Shelton, notching 16 kills and eight digs.
In 19 games, Fouch racked up an astonishing 536 assists and 19 service aces. Junior outside hitter Summer Nash leads SDSU with 216 kills on the season. Hannasch recorded 212 kills and 17 service aces in her final season wearing an Aztec jersey. Hannasch was recently awarded Mountain West Player of the Week for her stellar performance in the wins against Fresno State and University of Nevada, Las Vegas earlier this month. Senior libero Kristi Jackels is also making the best out of her last season playing for SDSU, with 293 digs in the 78 sets played thus far.
The Aztecs improved their overall record to 12-7 and 4-3 in Mountain West play with the victory in front of a large Air Force crowd of 636 blue and white fans on the campus of the USAF Academy. The Falcons fell to 2-4 in MWC play and 8-12 overall. The win marks the eighth time in the 2012 season the Aztecs played in a five-set match.
SDSU has a busy week ahead as it travels to Orange County to take on the UC Irvine Anteaters tonight at 7 p.m. After the rumble with UCI, SDSU travels back to Montezuma Mesa to play conference opponent New Mexico. The Lobos come to sunny San Diego with a record of 17-4 overall and an impressive 4- 2 MWC record. The showdown between the Aztecs and Lobos begins at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Aztec Court in Peterson Gym.
