SAN DIEGO – SDSU women’s volleyball beat the Utah State Aggies on Thursday evening to secure their sixth straight victory in five sets, 24-26, 25-27, 26-24, 25-20, 15-13. The Aztecs (11 - 6, 6-1 Pac-12) dropped the first two sets to the Aggies (3-13, 2-4 Pac-12) and won the final three sets to extend their win streak. 

SDSU had swept four of their last five opponents before playing Utah State. Head coach Brent Hilliard felt that Thursday’s matchup was a good change of pace. 

“We’ve been going through a lot of three set matches lately,” Hilliard said. “We hadn’t been challenged in that way.” 

Utah State proved to be a challenge early in the match, maintaining a lead for much of the opening set. The Aztecs’ defense kept it close with five blocks in the first set. At 23-20, SDSU rallied behind three consecutive kills, including two from Ella Schabort for a late comeback. Despite struggling against SDSU’s blockers, the Aggies took a 26-24 set one victory. 

The Aggies continued to test the Aztecs in the second set and amassed a 5-point lead. However, SDSU’s outside hitters, Annelise Rising, Layla Austin and Schabort combined for 10 of the the Aztecs’ 25 second-set points. Utah State overcame SDSU’s attack on offense and won the second set, 27-25. 

Despite dropping the first two sets, Hilliard continued to instill confidence in his team. 

“He said, ‘get out there and play your best and fight for this,’” Schabort said. “That really stuck with us and really gave us that energy to keep going and fight for that win as hard as we could.” 

Facing a potential sweep, the Aztecs went back-and-forth throughout the third set with the Aggies. The set tied at 24, kills by Haylee Brown and Tessa Schouten let the Aztecs take a 26-24 momentum-swinging set three victory. 

“They had momentum in those first two sets,” Hilliard said. “We couldn’t take them out of it, and then we gained momentum, and it just looked like the plays were falling our way.” 

SDSU carried that momentum into the next set. Schabort scored the first point of the fourth frame to set the tone for the rest of the match. The Aztecs led throughout much of the set and secured control late for a 25-20 fourth-set win. 

Outside hitter Austin secured a double-double within the fourth set, with 10 digs and 13 kills. 

“It’s just fun to see a freshman like that still compete and work through the issues that sometimes happen over the course of a match,” Hilliard said.

The Aztecs won a close fifth set, 15-13, clinching the match with a Taelyn Bentley kill to secure the reverse sweep. SDSU finished with more blocks (19-17) and kills (69-59) than Utah State. 

The Aztecs will look for their seventh straight win today at noon against Texas State in Peterson Gym to celebrate Alumni Day. This will be the first time the teams meet each other for Pac-12 play. Purchase tickets here or stream the game on the Pac-12 YouTube channel.

Featured image via Natalie Tullar/@nstphotography_.