San Diego State volleyball extended its season-long winning streak to five games after defeating University of New Mexico in four sets on Oct. 11 at Peterson Gym.
Senior middle blocker Deja Harris, the reigning Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week, said the win put the rest of the conference on notice.
“It’s a wake up call for us and for everybody else in our conference, watch out,” Harris said. “San Diego State has woken up, we’re here, and we’re ready to take it all.”
After enduring a 13-game skid earlier in the season, Harris said the winning streak has helped with the team’s confidence in themselves and each other.
“With this streak that’s going on, and with the confidence building, I can look to the person to my left, person to my right, my defenders in the back and trust them,” she said. “They’re going to get the job done.”
The Aztecs (6-14, 4-3 MW) got off to a good start in the very first set, and held off a Lobo comeback to take the early advantage.
SDSU led the first set 18-13, before the Lobos (11-8, 5-2 MW) battled all the way back to tie it up 21-21. Head coach Deitre Collins-Parker called a timeout, and the Aztecs responded with a 4-0 run to win the set.
Set two was also close, but the Aztecs pulled through with a 25-22 win.
New Mexico grabbed momentum to start the third set, jumping out to a 14-6 lead, before kills by Harris and freshman outside hitter Victoria O’Sullivan fired up the Aztecs.
Despite Harris and O’Sullivan’s efforts, the Aztecs were unable to make a comeback and lost the set 25-21.
O’Sullivan led the Aztecs with 15 kills, while Harris was right behind her with 14.
SDSU almost eased its way to victory in the fourth set, until the Lobos went on a 6-0 run to cut the Aztecs lead to 23-15. Just two points away from beating the top team in the MW conference, Collins-Parked called a timeout.
“That was one of those times I felt we got a little sloppy and we weren’t taking care of the ball,” Collins-Parker said. “At no point is a team going to lay down and die for us. We have to go earn every point.”
With the help of junior middle blocker Tamia Reeves and O’Sullivan, the Aztecs closed out the set and got the victory.
