No. 8 San Diego State Advances to Quarterfinals with 3-0 Win Over No. 9 Air Force

Aztecs outhit Falcons by .257 to .000 margin

Nov. 21, 2007

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -

The eighth-seeded San Diego State Aztecs staved off the ninth-seeded Air Force Falcons in Wednesday night's Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship Play-In match by a 3-0 margin. The Aztecs improve to 13-15 on the year with the 30-18, 30-16, 30-24 victory, while the Falcons close out their season with a 7-24 mark. With the win, SDSU advances to play the top-seeded and 20th ranked Colorado State Rams on Thursday night at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nev.

SDSU out-hit Air Force by a .257 to .000 margin. The Aztecs stayed in the .200 range with a game-high .294 in the second rounded out by a .281 in game one and a .209 in the third. The Falcons, on the other hand, only hit in the positives in game three with their .068 tally.

The Aztecs were led offensively by Lauren Salisbury's 11 kills and .429 hitting efficiency. In 29 attempts, Salisbury had only two errors. She contributed defensively with nine blocks (two solo).

Sydney De Turk (eight kills), Lindsey Mahan (seven) and Hannah Evans (seven) followed Salisbury in the kill department for SDSU.

Leah Lathrop and Kristen Castillo split setting duties for the Aztecs as they contributed 28 and 12 helpers, respectively.

Defensively, SDSU blocked back 24 of Air Force's attacks with two coming in the solo variety. Salisbury's nine led the way, while De Turk and Caitlin McMillan had four apiece.

Air Force was led by Jasamine Pettie's 11 kills and her .364 hitting efficiency. Katie Batchelder and Michelle Harrington were second and third in kills for Air Force with eight and seven, respectively.

Jessica Hellmann topped all Falcon players with 20 assists, as she dished out all but 10 of Air Force's total.

On the defensive side of the ball, Morgan Dolan led the Falcons in digs with 13, while Batchelder had 11. Harrington tallied four blocks in the match, with one coming assisted.