SDSU Volleyball Tournament : San Diego State Rallies to Beat BYU and Keep Record Perfect

San Diego State rallied from a 14-11 deficit in the final game Saturday night to beat Brigham Young in five games and win the SDSU Collegiate women’s volleyball tournament in Peterson Gym.

Jackie Mendez had three blocks and Renee Pankopf two kills to help the Aztecs (11-0) complete their 14-16, 15-10, 13-15, 15-8, 16-14 victory. BYU is 5-1.

SDSU’s Kim Harsch had 28 kills in the final and was named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Kris Morton (26 kills) and setter Liane Sato. BYU’s Sari Virtanen, who had 39 kills in the final, was named the tournament’s most valuable player. The Aztecs, had 109 kills in the match, one short of the school record set in 1982 against Stanford.

Also Saturday, United States International University defeated Western Michigan, three games to one, in a match for third place. Middle blocker Claudia Johnson of USIU was named to the all-tournament team.

San Diego State, ranked No. 7 in the country, will play Pepperdine at 7:30 Wednesday night in Peterson Gym.

The UC San Diego women’s volleyball team swept host Elmhurst College, 15-6, 15-10, 15-3, Saturday to win the Elmurst-Mizuno Invitational in Elmhurst, Ill. UCSD setter Kim Stonecipher, who had 40 assists and 10 digs in the final, was named the tournament’s most valuable player. The Tritons, who won six of their seven tournament matches to improve to 9-1, advanced to the finals earlier Saturday with a 15-7, 15-7 victory over William Penn College of Oskaloosa, Iowa.