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Volleyball wraps up 2016 campaign with five-set win over Wolf Pack
Source: goaztecs.com press release
Photo: Deja Harris had a career-best tying 19 kills in the win at Nevada Monday evening. Courtesy goaztecs.com
November 21, 2016 (Reno) - San Diego State wrapped up its 2016 season on a positive note as it defeated Nevada in five sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 13-25, 15-9) Monday evening at the Virginia Street Gym in Reno.
With the victory, the Aztecs end the year with a record of 17-15 overall and 9-9 in the Mountain West. It marks the seventh consecutive season in which SDSU has finished .500 or better in conference play.
The Wolf Pack, meanwhile, ends the season with a mark of 19-11 overall and 10-8 in league action.
San Diego State was led by sophomore middle blocker Deja Harris, who tied her career high with 19 kills while hitting .621 and contributing three blocks over the five sets.
Senior Emma Fuzie also ended the night in double figures in kills with 13 with Alexandra Psoma and Hannah Turnlund chipping in with 11 apiece. Fuzie also had three blocks, a dig and an assist with Psoma adding a solo block and seven digs.
Alexis Cage led the Aztecs with four blocks while also recording six kills, seven digs and a pair of service aces. Setter Lauren Utchen set her career best with 53 assists while libero Devyn Pritchard led all players with 13 digs.
Statistically the match was fairly even as both teams finished with a .259 hitting percentage. The Aztecs had just six more kills (61-55) and assists (58-52) than Nevada while the Wolf Pack led SDSU in aces (6-5), digs (50-49) and team blocks (8-7).
The opening set saw six lead changes and the score tied on 17 occasions up until the scoreboard read 22-22. From there the Aztecs used a pair of bad sets by Nevada and an attack error by the hosts to claim the three-point set win. Fuzie led the Aztecs with five kills while Harris added four of her own.
The second set was almost as close with six lead changes and 10 ties before Nevada took the lead for good at 20-19. The teams traded points, but the Wolf Pack then scored four of the next six points to capture the set and even the match at one apiece.
In set number three, SDSU took a quick 3-0 lead and led the rest of the way. Nevada was still within three points at 18-15, but the Aztecs maintained control down the stretch to win the contest by seven points and go up two sets to one in the match. Harris had five kills in the contest while Fuzie had four.
The Wolf Pack turned the tables in the fourth set as it won the first two points and was never caught. The home side put together a run of five points and two runs of four points over the middle portion of the contest to pull away and even the match at two sets apiece. No Aztec had more than two kills in the set as SDSU hit .000 compared to .318 for the Wolf Pack.
In the fifth and deciding set, each team won a point before San Diego State scored five in a row to go up 6-1. Nevada slowly worked its way back into the contest, trailing by only two at 7-5. The Aztecs, however, were able to pull away with the help of three kills by Turnlund, who recorded the match winner as SDSU won the set by six to secure the match victory. Harris led all players with five kills.
The Aztecs will lose four seniors from its 2016 team including Emma Fuzie (1.49 kills, 077 blocks per set), defensive specialist Alexa Saba (1.31 digs per set), setter Hailey Jones (5.41 assists per set, 2.12 digs per set) and defensive specialist Danielle Bolden (0.33 aces per set, 2.33 digs per set).
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