San Diego, CA—-The San Diego State Aztecs beat the Boise State Broncos 3-1 in a Mountain West volleyball match on Thursday night. The Aztecs (8-12, 3-6 MW) won the sets 21-25, 25-22, 16-25, and 25-22 on Aztec Court at Peterson Gym. The loss moved the Broncos to 10-9 overall and 6-3 in MW play, tied for second place.
The Aztecs capitalized a 9-0 run in the first set to take an 11-4 lead. The Broncos settled down and came back from a seven-point deficit to win the frame by four, 25-21. Paige Bartsch recorded eight kills to lead Boise State back.
SDSU had a .260 hitting percentage against the Broncos that limited its previous opponents to a .197 efficiency for the season entering Thursday’s contest. The Aztecs maintained a 54-51 advantage in kills and 4-3 edge in aces to seal the game.
Boise State also opened the second frame sluggish, SDSU banged off a 6-1 run to go up 11-6. The Broncos never got back on track, but they didn’t go without a fight, trimming a seven-point deficit to one at 23-22 but the Aztecs held off the Broncos for the 25-22 win.
Fatimah Hall had (25 assists) played well around the net with Gonzalez (22 assists), who got her second double-double of the year, while the Aztecs received a hugh contributions from freshmen Campbell (7 kills) and Amber Keen (5 kills) off the bench.
Tied at 9-9, the Aztecs used a 6-0 run to take control of the third set, eventually winning it 25-16 over Boise State.
Boise State opened the fourth set strong, taking an early five-point 10-5 advantage. San Diego State rallied with a 9-1 run to take a 17-13 lead to claim the lead for good. Boise State rally back, closing to within one late at 23-22, but could get no closer as San Diego State put it away 25-22 for the set and match victories.
The defense came up huge in the SDSU’s win, as they posted a season-best 72 digs overall, limiting Boise State to a .170 hitting percentage for the contest.
San Diego State has a Saturday showdown with Utah State on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT. The first-place Aggies (15-5, 8-1 MW) survived a five-set close one UNLV on Thursday.
